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Adventures of Prince Silver Mist 




QUEEN NATURE’S 
FAIRY HELPERS 


BY 

ALICE (cRAIG) EDGERTON 



LLOYD ADAMS NOBLE, Publisher 
31 West 15th Street New York 



Copyright, 1921 

BY 

LLOYD ADAMS NOBLE 


29 1321 


©CLA608177 


TO 

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WHO TAUGHT ME WHEN A CHILD 
THE WONDERFUL SECRETS OP NATURE 


I LOVINGLY DEDICATE THIS LITTLE BOOK 



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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The Two Fairy Forces ...... 1 

The Princess Silvery Moonlight . . . . 15 

Queen Nature^s Garden 26 

The Two Princesses 42 

The Adventures of Prince Silver Mist . . 59 

The Further Adventures of Prince Silver 

Mist 74 

The Wicked Giant 86 

The Air Fairies 98 

The Great Magician 112 


Our love for Nature poets tell. 

In songs of thrilling words. 

They tell of love for waving trees; 

For joyous, singing birds; 

For dainty flowers blooming nigh 
A little babbling brook; 

For snow-clad peak and crested wave 
And shady, scented nook. 

But in their songs they do not tell 
What we have done to prove 

That we are grateful for the gifts 
Bestowed by Nature’s love. 

Their words but show the care with which 
She guards each child — and thus 

We know our love cannot compare 
With Nature's love for us. 


QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

THE TWO FAIEY FOECES 

Once upon a time, ages and ages and eons 
and eons ago, there lived two brothers. An 
age, you know, is hundreds and hundreds of 
years and an eon is thousands and thousands 
of ages ; so you see this was a very long time 
ago, indeed. It was so long ago that there 
were no people or birds or animals, no waving 
trees or fields of green, no snow-clad moun- 
tains or sparkling seas. This great world of 
ours, which is now so beautiful, was then only 
a huge, shapeless mass. Can you imagine a 
vast amount of rocks and water and gas and 
fire and clouds all tumbled and jumbled to- 
gether? Well, the world was somewhat like 
that, only of course a million times as big. 

These brothers and their sister were not 
flesh-and-blood children like you and your 
brother and sister. They were not real fairies, 
either, for fairies are dainty little folk, some 


2 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


of them very tiny, indeed ; while these brothers 
when they grew up were large and strong. 
They were closely related to the fairies, how- 
ever, and could become invisible whenever 
they did not wish to be seen; so they were 
called Fairy Forces. Now, a force is some- 
thing very powerful, and of course fairies can 
become invisible ; so I think that Fairy Forces 
was a very good name for them, don’t you? 



The brothers were the sons of a great and 
good king, and with their sister, the beautiful 
Princess Silvery Moonlight, had their home 
far away in the deep blue sky. When they 
were quite small, they played hide-and-seek 


THE TWO FAIRY FORCES 3 

around the stars, just as you play hide-and- 
seek around the lilac bushes in your yard. 
Sometimes they would slide down the rainbow, 
just as you slide down the banister in your 
front hall. 

Now, instead of looking alike, as all really 
truly brothers are supposed to do, these 
brothers differed greatly. You could more 
readily believe them cousins, and twenty-fifth 
cousins at that. You might even think them 
mere acquaintances, like you and the boy who 
lives in the corner house across the street. 
One of them had bright blue eyes, hair that 
lay in golden curls around his head, and a 
smile that was dazzling in its brightness. The 
hair of the other was soft and black as mid- 
night, and his eyes were so dark that when 
you looked into them you seemed to be gaz- 
ing down, down to a great depth. He was not 
so beautiful as his brother, but every one was 
drawn toward him by the magic of his smile. 

When the Princes were only a few months 
old, the fairies came from far and near, bring- 
ing gifts. One day as the children lay asleep 
in their cradle, the wicked fairy, Prince of 


4 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


Night, stole past the guards of the castle and 
found his way to their downy bed. Their 
cradle was a white, fleecy cloud, and the golden 
head was pillowed beside the dark one, with 
the pink lining of another cloud showing just 
beneath their dimpled chins. When the 
Prince of Night was sure that he was alone 
with the sleeping children, he laughed aloud 
in glee, for here was a splendid chance to 
carry out one of his wicked schemes. have 
brought gifts, too,’’ he chuckled, ‘‘and they 
are gifts which must be carried forever and 
ever, and which will make their possessor 
despised wherever he may go.” 

As you know, the gift of a fairy is not the 
kind of gift which your mother and father 
bestow upon you at Christmas time or on your 
birthday. It is something which you cannot 
see, like goodness or badness, or the love of 
beautiful music, or the desire to paint wonder- 
ful pictures. It is something which becomes a 
part of you. Sometimes we call it disposition, 
or talent, or desire, or ambition. 

When the wicked fairy had made sure that 
none of the other fairies were watching him, 


THE TWO FAIRY FORCES 


5 


he wove his magic spell around the sleeping 
Princes. “My gifts shall be these/’ he said: 
“The golden-haired one shall be a spendthrift, 
always spending and giving and throwing 
away whatever he may possess. The brown- 
eyed one shall be a miser, forever hoarding and 
holding fast everything which he can acquire.” 
I am sure you will agree with me that these 
two gifts were very undesirable. The Prince 
of Night smiled wickedly as he slipped under 



T^he Prince of Night wove his magic spell around the sleeping^ 
Princes, 


a big cloud and disappeared, for he thought 
that he had given to the two beautiful Princes 
something which would make them hated as 
long as they should live. 


6 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

Now, as you all know, the only thing which 
can in any way change the gift of a wicked 
fairy is the power of a good fairy. For- 
tunately, just as the Prince of Night was hid- 
den behind the cloud, the beautiful fairy. 
Queen of Day, appeared. Although she did 
not have the power to take away the gifts 
which the wicked fairy had bestowed upon the 
sleeping children, she was not too late to 
change the effect which these gifts would 
have. So, waving the wand she carried and 
touching each child upon the forehead, she 
said: ‘^To Golden Hair I give an unending 
supply of that which he must give away 
and the desire to do only good with his gift. 
To Brown Eyes I give the power to guard 
and protect the things which he shall acquire 
and likewise the desire to do only good with 
his gift.’’ In this way the purpose of the 
Prince of Night was overcome and his wicked 
gifts were turned into blessings. 

As the young Princes grew older, the effect 
of the fairies’ gifts could plainly be seen. 
Golden Hair was much beloved, for he gave 
freely of his riches, never asking anything 


THE TWO FAIRY FORCES 


7 


in return. Sadness and gloom could not exist 
near him, for his bright smile chased away all 
shadows and dried all tears. The quiet, gentle 
ways of Brown Eyes endeared him to all ; and 
those who knew him were happier because of 
his many good deeds. True to the gift of the 
wicked fairy, he rejoiced in holding fast every- 
thing with which he was able to surround 
himself ; but he so cherished and protected his 
treasures that they were much better off be- 
cause of his care. 

When finally their father, the Good King, 
decided that each should have a kingdom of 
his own, to Golden Hair he gave the title of 
the Heat King, and placed in his keeping the 
Kingdom of the Sun. Upon Brown Eyes he 
bestowed the title of King Gravity, and gave 
to him our own world over which to reign. 
From that time to the present day, the 
Princes have ruled wisely and well. 

King Gravity lives to-day in the very center 
of this big round world of ours, nearly four 
thousand miles straight down from where you 
are sitting this very minute. Ko one has ever 
seen this wonderful king, but we feel his power 


8 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


every second of the night and day. If it were 
not for him, all the people and animals, and 
even the little birds, would drop off into space 
when the world turns over at night. Indeed, 
the world itself would crumble into bits and 
be lost in the sky. All things on the earth or 
near it obey King Gravity’s will; but they do 
so gladly, for he is as gentle as he is strong. 

He draws all parts of the world toward him 
so strongly and holds them so firmly that the 
earth has become a round, solid ball. He 
keeps the stones and the rich black dirt in 
their places, so that the trees and flowers can 
grow and blossom. He makes it possible for 
us to walk and ride and build houses upon 
the land, and to sail upon the ocean ; and, most 
wonderful of all, he keeps the water in the 
sea as level as you would hold the water in a 
pail, never allowing a drop to spill over the 
edge of the world. The little white clouds, 
floating away up in the blue sky, and the birds 
singing so merrily, sometimes think that they 
can fly far away to other worlds. But he is 
always watching and never allows them to go 
too far and become lost. The amount of 


THE TWO FAIRY FORCES 


9 


strength which he uses to hold us in our places 
on the earth is called our weight. So when 
your mother or father tells you that you weigh 
sixty or eighty pounds, you will know that 
King Gravity is using just so much of his 
wonderful strength to keep you from flying 
into the sky. 

The Heat King, who has his home in the 
sun, is many millions of miles away from us ; 
but we see and feel his smile each day. Upon 
him the Queen of Day bestowed an unlimited 
amount of heat and light; and, although he 
has been giving of it freely for ages and ages, 
it never grows less and never will grow less 
while the world lasts. Our earth is so very 
far from his kingdom that he cannot come 
here himself ; so every morning he opens the 
gates and lets down to us his wonderful Lad- 
ders of Light. And down these ladders come 
dancing the Heat King’s daughters, the Sun- 
beam Princesses, who warm and brighten the 
whole world. They coax the trees and the 
grass to grow. They ripen the golden grain 
and the sweet brown nuts. They paint on 
the mellow fruits all the beautiful colors of 


10 QUEEN NATURE^S FAIRY HELPERS 


the rainbow. The happy brooks reflect their 
glad smiles; the trees reach out to them wel- 
coming arms; and the flowers turn to them 
smiling faces. 



And down these ladders come dancing the Heat King*s daughters. 


Some day when the sun is shining brightly, 
if you will go into a darkened room and stand 
beside a tiny hole in the curtain, or into the 
barn and stand beside a knot hole in the wall, 
you will see these Ladders of Light as they 
pass through the opening in the curtain or 
wall, and find a resting place upon the floor. 
The little Sunbeam Princesses, however, are 




THE TWO FAIRY FORCES 


11 


so shy that they will never let themselves be 
seen by mortal eyes. But we can feel the 
warmth they bring, and sometimes on a bright 
day we can catch a glimpse of the beautiful 
robes they wear. These robes are woven of 
seven brilliant colors— violet, indigo, blue, 
green, yellow, orange, and red. Some day if 
you will look into the edge of a glass when the 
sun is shining on it, or at its reflection on the 
wall, you will see these gorgeous colors all in 
a row. 

Your teacher has doubtless told you that 
our big round world revolves, that is, turns 
round and round, once in every twenty-four 
hours. The earth revolves from west to east, 
and this makes the sun appear to travel from 
east to west. In the daytime the side on which 
we live is toward the kingdom in the sun, and 
this is the time when the Simbeam Princesses 
visit us. At night the other side of the world 
is toward the sun, and is the resting place for 
the Ladders of Light. So you see, every day 
these busy little Fairies bring heat and light 
to the whole world. Indeed, they might bring 
us too great a supply, were it not for the fact 


12 QUEEN NATURE^S FAIRY HELPERS 

that they must make a difficult journey 
through the air which surrounds the earth. 

Now, besides revolving once every day, our 
earth is such a great traveler that every year 
it makes a long journey clear around the home 
of the Heat King. In making this trip around 
the sun, the earth is in such a position that in 
the winter time the Princesses are obliged to 
pass through a greater amount of air than they 
do at other times of the year. When they ar- 
rive, therefore, they are too tired to do quite 
so much work; and besides, they haven’t quite 
so much time left to work in. For this reason 
they are not able to give us so much heat or 
so long a day as they do in the summer time. 

Besides the Princesses, the Heat King has 
one son, the wonderful Fire Prince. Many 
thousands of years ago the Fire Prince came 
to live on our earth, to warm and brighten it 
during the absence of his fairy sisters. It is 
he who lights our homes at night, cooks our 
food, helps us perform our daily task’s, and 
keeps us warm the whole winter through. 
Were it not for his help and care there are 
some parts of our world on which we could 


THE TWO FAIRY FORCES 


13 


not live, beautiful places that we could not see, 
and delicious food that we could not eat. 
When we sit around the fireplace on a cold 
winter night, telling fairy stories and listen- 
ing to the howling of the North Wind, we 
must not forget how much we owe to the Fire 
Prince. We must remember that it is he who 
pops our corn, toasts our marshmallows and 
chestnuts, and sends out the delightful glow 
which warms our bodies and cheers our hearts. 

And so the gifts of the wicked fairy were 
turned to blessings by the Queen of Day. Be- 
cause of her goodness. Brown Eyes, who had 
the gift of a miser, became our protector, the 
great and good King Gravity, through whose 
care we are able to live upon and enjoy this 
beautiful world of ours. Golden Hair, who 
had the gift of a spendthrift, became the Heat 
King, with power to give without limit of his 
treasure. By the warmth of his smile and the 
aid of the Sunbeam Princesses and the Fire 
Prince, he will forever drive away the shadows 
from our earth and make us happy. 


14 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

Questions suggested by the story: 

1. What is the shape of the earth? 

2. What is the distance to the center of the earth? 

3. What is gravity? 

4. What would happen to the earth if gravity should lose 

its force? 

5. What gives the earth its heat and light? 

6. Name the seven colors which may be found in a ray 

of light. 

7. How far is the earth from the sun? 

8. What makes the sun appear to travel from east to 

west? 

9. What other motion has the earth? 

10. Why is it colder in winter than in summer? 


THE PEINCESS SILVERY 
MOONLIGHT 


After the Heat King and King Gravity had 
taken up their abodes in their separate king- 
doms, their sister, the little Princess Silvery 
Moonlight, became very lonely. She wandered 
from star to star, wishing that she had a nice 
little kingdom over which she could reign. 
The Princess was very beautiful, with pale 
silvery hair, from which she derived her 
name, and eyes which sparkled like star-dust. 
She wore soft, trailing robes, just the color of 
her hair, and fine and filmy as a cloud. Her 
manner was sweet and gentle, and Brown 
Eyes and Golden Hair were very proud of 
their charming sister. 

The Princess resembled both her brothers 
in some respects. She was generous and kind- 
hearted like Golden Hair, and she kept her 
possessions in much the same manner that 
Brown Eyes treasured his. She was not so 

15 


16 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 



Princess Silvery Moonlight wandered from star to star. 


strong as her brothers, but she was capable of 
doing a great many beautiful things. At last 
she begged her father to give her a kingdom 
of her own, in which she might exercise her 
power for good. So the Good King built for 
her a huge ball somewhat like our earth, only 
not so large, and in honor of his daughter he 
named it the moon. The Princess was over- 
joyed with her new possession; and that she 
might never grow lonesome, the King placed 
the moon not so very many thousands of miles 


THE PRINCESS SILVERY MOONLIGHT 17 


from the earth. In reality it is nearly two 
hundred and fifty thousand miles from the 
earth, which seems a tremendous distance to 
us, but does not appear far to the Princess. 

As soon as the Princess was enthroned in 
her new kingdom, the Heat King began send- 
ing his little Sunbeam Princesses on their 
Ladders of Light to visit his sister, just as he 
sends them to the earth. Of course the side 
of the moon which happens to be toward the 
sun is the one which is visited by the Prin- 
cesses, and this is the side which has the 
beautiful silvery glow. Sometimes we can see 
only a tiny crescent of this space, and then 
we say that there is a new moon; and we 
hasten to make a wish which we know the 
Princess will grant. Sometimes we can see 
the entire half on which the Sunbeam Prin- 
cesses are dancing, and then we say that the 
moon is full. If it is in the winter time, we 
ask mother if we may go skating or coast- 
ing. If it is in the summer time, we ask to 
go rowing on the river where we can watch 
the bright reflections in the water. 

When Silvery Moonlight learned that the 


18 QUEEN NATURE^S FAIRY HELPERS 


Heat King could send the Sunbeam Princesses 
to only one part of the world at a time, her 
gentle heart was touched. It made her sad 
to know that while one side of the earth was 
all sunshiny and bright, the other side was 
dark and gloomy. So she thought of a beauti- 
ful plan which she has ever since carried out. 
As she has no little daughters of her own, she 
adopts some of the Sunbeam Princesses when 
they come to visit her, and names them Moon- 
beam Princesses. She does this in just the 
same way that your parents might adopt a 
little girl and change her name from Mary 
to Marie. These little Fairies she sends to 



The dancing Sunbeam Princesses, 



THE PRINCESS SILVERY MOONLIGHT 19 

visit the side of our world which is turned 
away from the sun at night. They are such 
tiny Fairies that they do not bring us any 
heat ; but they do bring us a soft, silvery light. 
They dance on the water and sparkle on the 
snow; and they love to search out the dew- 
drops hidden in the grass and make them 
shine like diamonds. 

Sometimes, when heavy clouds come be- 
tween us and the moon, the little Moonbeam 
Princesses cannot find their way through, and 
then the night is very dark. Sometimes, when 
the clouds are small, we can see bright little 
streaks around the edges where the fairies are 
playing ; and the clouds go fioating away, giv- 
ing the little Princesses a merry ride. When 
the night is bright and the moon is sailing so 
beautifully in the dark blue sky, you must re- 
member that the wonderful glow which we see 
is the Sunbeam Princesses playing on the 
moon. The soft light which comes to us is 
brought by some of these Princesses, who have 
been sent by Silvery Moonlight to make our 
world bright at night. Did you ever hold a 
mirror so that the sun would shine on it and 


20 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

then reflect into the eyes of one of your play- 
mates? If so, you were doing just what 
Silvery Moonlight is doing every night. You 
are catching on your mirror some of the Sun- 
beam Princesses and sending them to your 
little friend. And so we say that the light 
which comes to us from the moon is only the 
reflection of the sun. 

Now, because Silvery Moonlight can never 
come any nearer to us, she contents herself by 
taMng a trip once a month clear around the 
earth. In reality, she does this once in four 
weeks, which is a little oftener than once a 
month. Some months, you know, have thirty 
days and some have thirty-one, while four 
weeks are just twenty-eight days. There are 
twelve calendar months in a year, but Silvery 
Moonlight makes thirteen trips around the 
world in that same time. I am sure you all 
know the calendar months, that is, those 
months which are named in the calendar or 
almanac beginning with January and ending 
with December. Once in a while, however, we 
hear some one speak of a lunar month. The 
word lunar means relating to the moon, and 


THE PRINCESS SILVERY MOONLIGHT 21 


therefore a lunar month is a moon month, or 
about four weeks — the time it takes the moon 
to go around the earth. When the earth makes 
its journey around the sun, about which I have 
told you. Silvery Moonlight goes with it, sail- 
ing around the earth thirteen times in the 
meantime. So you see she is a greater traveler 
than even her brother. King Gravity. 

A most curious thing sometimes happens in 
making these trips. Once in a while the moon 
gets exactly between the sun and the earth, 
so that King Gravity cannot see his brother, 
the Heat King, but only his beautiful sister. 
Then people who do not know this pretty fairy 
story say that there is an eclipse of the sun. 
Sometimes the earth gets between the moon 
and the sun, so that Silvery Moonlight cannot 
see the Heat King. At such times the earth 
casts a big shadow on the moon, just as you 
will cast a shadow if you stand between the 
lamp and the wall. Then we say that there is 
an eclipse of the moon. I wonder if you can 
remember just how this happens. For fear 
you cannot, I will tell you again. When there 
is an eclipse of the sun, the moon is between 


22 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


US and the sun, and the round dark spot which 
we seem to see on the sun is really the moon 
itself. When there is an eclipse of the moon, 
the earth is between the moon and the sun, 
and the dark space which we see on the 
moon is the shadow of our own world. This 
is a wonderful game which the Heat King, 
King Gravity and the Princess Silvery Moon- 
light never grow tired of playing in the great 
playgrounds of the sky. I suppose that some- 
times the moon casts a shadow on us and then 
there is an eclipse of the earth, but that eclipse 
only the Princess can see. 

You will remember that the Princess re- 
sembles her brother. King Gravity, in loving 
to keep the things which come into her posses- 
sion. While she is not so strong as her 
brother, she has a good deal of power which 
she uses in holding together all the parts of her 
kingdom, just as King Gravity holds all the 
parts of the earth. In addition to this, she has a 
very frolicsome disposition, and there is a little 
trick which she loves to play on King Gravity. 
She knows that the waters on the earth love 
her so much that, were it not for being obliged 


THE PRINCESS SILVERY MOONLIGHT 23 


to obey King Gravity, they would gladly go 
to her. So she coaxes and teases the waves of 
the big ocean, and they follow her out of their 
beds and over the land as far as King Gravity 
will allow them to go. Then they reluctantly 



princess Silvery Moonlight coaxing the waves of the hig ocean. 


return, only to try again in a few hours. Peo- 
ple call this coming and going of the water the 
ehb and flow of the tide. Many of them do 
not know this beautiful story, and they wonder 


24 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

what causes the water to rise and fall. But 
when you see the waves creeping farther and 
farther up the golden sands of the beach, you 
will know that Silvery Moonlight is calling to 
them, and they are trying to obey her voice. 
They never seem to learn that King Gravity 
will not give them up, even to his sister, and 
twice each day they try in vain to go to their 
beloved Princess. 

And so the Princess lives happily in her 
home in the moon, lovingly guarded by her big 
brothers, and doing many beautiful things — 

Bringing joy to our world at night 
With the soft radiance of her silvery light. 


THE PRINCESS SILVERY MOONLIGHT 25 


Questions suggested by the story: 

1. How far is the moon from the earth? 

2. Which is the larger? 

3. What makes the moon bright? 

4. Do we receive any heat from the moon? 

5. WTiat does the moon do once a month ? 

6. What does the word ‘lunar” mean? 

7. How long is a lunar month ? 

8. How many lunar months are there in a year? 

9. How long is a calendar month? 

10. How many calendar months are there in a year? 

11. Wliat happens when there is an eclipse of the moon? 

12. What happens when there is an eclipse of the sun? 

13. Could there be an eclipse of the earth? 

14. What causes the tides? 

15. How often does this happen? 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 


You will remember that when King 
Gravity came to make his home in our world, 
the earth was only a huge mass of rocks and 
water and gas and fire and clouds on which 
nothing could live. It was the plan of the 
Good King, however, that by and by the world 
should be our dwelling place. So, after King 
Gravity had formed this mass of material into 
a rough ball, the Good King summoned the 
most beautiful of all the fairies, Queen 
Nature. When she appeared, he told her to 
make of the earth’s surface a garden in which 
might live all the trees and flowers, and all the 
animals, birds and fishes which he would place 
in her keeping. 

Now, Queen Nature, besides being the be- 
loved queen of all the fairies, is a wonder- 
ful artist. She can paint the most exquisite 
pictures and carve from rocks the most beauti- 
ful shapes and forms. Under her brush un- 
dreamed-of colors would appear, and no 
26 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 


27 



Queen Nature is a wonderful artist, 

human sculjDtor has ever lived who could create 
such perfect and graceful lines. It is need- 
less to say that she was very happy to under- 
take the task of beautifying our earth. In 
order that she might not overlook anything 
which would add to our comfort and pleasure, 
she decided to draw a plan which would set 
forth all her ideas. So, taking a big piece of 
the blue sky and a great white ray of light, 



28 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


she drew a picture of how the world would 
look when it was finished, just as your father 
would first draw the picture of a house which 
he was going to build. 

Queen Nature spent many days in making 
her outline, and when it was finished she 
found that she could divide the work into 
three parts. These parts she called kingdoms 
— the mineral kingdom, the vegetable king- 
dom, and the animal kingdom. Since that 
time everything in the world has belonged to 
one of these three kingdoms. It is sometimes 
great fun to see who can tell most quickly to 
which kingdom all the things in the room, or the 
house, or the yard, belong. This is more difficult 
than it would seem. It is easy to say that father ’s 
watch belongs to the mineral kingdom because 
it is made of gold, but you must think quickly 
to say that his coat belongs to the animal king- 
dom because it is made of wool, and that 
sister’s dress belongs to the vegetable king- 
dom because it is made of cotton. Queen Na- 
ture decided to perform the work of the min- 
eral kingdom herself, and to assign the re- 
mainder of the tasks to her twin daughters, 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 


29 


the Princess Flora and the Princess Fauna. 
These two beautiful and tender-hearted fairies 
were artists like their mother, and they were 
delighted to assist her in this wonderful work. 

As the first step in her great task, Queen 
Nature separated from the shapeless mass 
three or four of the gases, and then mixed 
these gases together. This queer, transparent 
substance she placed around the world like a 
great ocean in which the earth seems to float. 
No one knows just how deep this ocean is, but 
it extends upwards many miles, growing 
thinner and thinner until it vanishes into 
empty space. This mixture of gases is called 
the atmosphere, and it is the air which we 
breathe and without which we could not live. 
The clouds she placed far up in the blue sky, 
where they could float about, carrying rain or 
snow to all parts of the world. The Are she 
placed deep down in the earth and covered it 
over with a hard crust. She knew that it must 
be kept a prisoner or it might cause a vast 
amount of trouble. 

When the gas and clouds and Are had all 
been taken care of. Queen Nature scooped out 


30 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


great portions of the earth’s surface, and into 
the hollows so made she poured most of the 
water of the world. The water she called 
oceans, and the land which was left dry she 
named continents. We have five of these big 
oceans — the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Arctic, 
the Antarctic, and the Indian. Sometimes we 
speak of these great bodies of water as the sea. 
The land was divided into six continents, and 
we have named them Europe, Asia, Africa, 
North America, South America, and Aus- 
tralia. We live in the one called North Amer- 
ica. We are very proud of North America, 
for we think it is the most wonderful of all 
the continents. 

Queen Nature loved her work on the sur- 
face of the land, for there she could show to 
the fullest extent her ability as a sculptor. 
She carved portions of her material into great 
ridges and peaks called mountains, many of 
which are several miles high. Between these 
mountains she left wide, fertile valleys^ or 
deep, narrow canyons, down which race noisy, 
swift-flowing streams. Some of the land she 
piled up almost as high as the mountain tops. 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 


31 


but made it level and smooth instead of steep 
and rough. We call such places plateaus. 
She fashioned gently sloping hills and pretty 
vales. Miles and miles of the land she left as 
level as the floor. These level places are 
known as plains. In other places she heaped 
the rocks high above the oceans and lakes. 
Such rocky heights we call Huffs, Great 
waves dash against these heights, striving to 
tear them down, as soldiers sometimes try to 
tear down the walls of forts and castles. 

Other portions of the land Queen Nature 
smoothed down to the edge of the oceans, leav- 
ing long, sandy leaches over which the waves 
wash. These beaches are the most delightful 
playgrounds in the world. If you have ever 
spent a day on the seashore, you have found 
hundreds of pebbles, all smooth and round, 
and perhaps you have wondered why they are 
shaped so much alike. At one time these 
pebbles were much larger and of different 
shapes, but for hundreds of years the waves 
have tossed them and they have rolled over 
and over each other. At last all the rough 
edges were worn away, and they became the 


32 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


thin, round flakes of stone which we love to 
send skipping over the glassy water. 

To beautify her continents, the Queen 
scalloped the edges, just as you would scallop 
the edge of a piece of lace, leaving long strips 
of land running out into the water. If these 
strips are almost surrounded by water, they are 
called peninsulas. If they are merely points of 
land extending out into the water, we call them 
capes. The places in between where the water 
runs into the land we have named gulfs and 
hays. Some of the water which Queen Nature 
did not place in the oceans she used for lakes 
and ponds. She also made thousands of 
rivers and brooks, which run down the moun- 
tain sides and across the plains like great 
silvery ribbons, winding their way to the sea. 
The water in all the oceans is level like the 
water in a pail, and everything in the world 
which is even with the surface of the ocean 
we say is at sea level. So, when we speak of 
the height of a mountain, we mean the distance 
of the peak above the level of the sea, and not 
its distance above the land around the base of 
the mountain. 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 


33 


After Queen Nature had fashioned the sur- 
face of the land into beautiful shapes, she also 
carved wonderful forms in the bottom or bed 
of the oceans and lakes, making valleys and 
mountains even there, where no eye can ever 
see them. The tops of some of these hills and 
mountains have risen far above the surface 
of the water. If there is water all around 
them, they are called islands. Islands vary 
in size from very small ones to those which 
are many miles across. But the tiny bit of 
land all surrounded by water in the middle of 
a little brook or pond is just as much an island 
as the top of the great mountain which comes 
to the surface of the ocean from many thou- 
sands of feet below. Sometimes these islands, 
and in some cases even the continents, are 
joined by a narrow strip of land. To this 
narrow strip we have given the name of isth- 
mus, which means neck. An isthmus connects 
two pieces of land just as your own slender 
neck is the means of connecting your head and 
body. If a narrow neck of water joins two 
larger bodies of water, we call it a strait. 

In her work, for she is still working. Queen 


34 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


Nature sometimes has great trouble with the 
Fire Prince. You will remember that this 
Prince is the son of the Heat King who came 
to live upon the earth when it was new, and 
whom Queen Nature buried deep down in the 
ground. The Fire Prince objects so strongly 
to living underground that sometimes he 
makes quite a fuss about it. Most of the time 
he sleeps, and we almost forget that he is 
there ; but sometimes he tosses and turns and 
shakes the earth, just as you shake the clothes 
on the bed when you turn over at night. This 
seems like a little thing to the Fire Prince 
because he is so strong; but sometimes the 
earth is so shaken that great buildings fall to 
the ground. Then we say there has been an 
earthquake. At other times he bursts through 
the top of a mountain, sending forth smoke, 
fire and melted rock which we call lava. Such 
a mountain is a volcano; and it is very danger- 
ous to live near it, for one never knows when 
the Fire Prince will come pouring out in his 
anger. We call the opening which he makes 
in the top of the mountain a crater, and his 
act of coming out an eruption. Sometimes 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 


36 



The Fire Prince, 


when the Fire Prince finds a stream of water 
deep down in the earth, he thinks it great 
fun to heat this water and send it up through 
the rocks, to spout high into the air like a 
huge boiling spring. We call this hot spring 
a geyser. There is one place in our country 
where there are many of these hot springs. 
It is called Yellowstone Park, and people 
come from thousands of miles to visit it. 

Deep in the ground, sometimes in the very 
heart of the mountains, Queen Nature planted 


36 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

the precious and useful metals. There we 
find gold and silver, of which money and orna- 
ments are made. There also we find iron, of 
which we build many of our houses and 
bridges, and most of the wonderful machinery 
in the world. From certain places we get the 
bright, soft metal known as tin, from which 
the shiny pans in mother’s kitchen are made. 
From other places comes a queer gray liquid 
metal which we call quicksilver or mercury. 
We use this metal in our thermometers and 
on the backs of our mirrors. We have also 
foimd use for the dull gray lead, the pretty 
red copper, and many other metals, some of 
which are very valuable. 

Queen Nature also made the shiny black 
coal with which we fill our bins in the base- 
ment, and the way she did this is very strange. 
After the trees were planted and had grown to 
a great height, she upset portions of the sur- 
face of the earth, so as to bury these trees and 
other growing things deep down in the ground. 
For thousands of years they lay hidden and 
pressed so tightly together that at last they 
turned into coal. In places where this coal 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 37 

is plentiful, men dig it out of the ground for 
us to burn in our stoves and furnaces to-day. 

Many of the hollows and crevices between 
the rocks and grains of sand Queen Nature 
used as storehouses which she filled with oils 
and gases. Men bore deep wells in places where 
they have learned that the storehouses are 
richly stocked, and we use these curious sub- 
stances for heating and lighting our houses. 
And because she knew that by and by, when 
people and animals came to live upon the 
earth, they could not live without salt, Queen 
Nature made great beds of this white, queer- 
tasting mineral and placed large quantities of 
it in the ocean. 

When the last little island and great conti- 
nent had been carved to her satisfaction. 
Queen Nature laid down her chisel and mallet. 
Taking up her palette and brush, she painted 
the rocks with the most wonderful colors— 
brilliant reds and yellows, dazzling white, dull 
gray, black, and even pink and blue. To the 
sands of the seashore she gave a pale yellow 
or soft gray tint, while the soil in the valleys 
and plains she colored black, tan, or a rich 


38 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

brown. Certain of the smooth hard rocks she 
painted spotless white, black, delicate pink, or 
curious mixed colors. We call them marble, 
and carve them into statues or use them in our 
buildings. Some of the small rocks she 
painted such beautiful colors that we prize 
them very highly to-day ; and, because they are 
so few we call them precious stones and make 
them into jewels. Some of the most valuable 
of these stones are the ruby, with its bright 
red color, the emerald which is brilliant green, 
the dark blue sapphire, and the beautiful clear 
stone which we all love because of its sparkling 
light — the diamond. There are many other 
kinds of precious stones, reflecting all the 
bright tints of the rainbow. 

Everything to which Queen Nature touched 
her chisel or brush became beautiful. Some 
things, such as the mountains or the sea, are 
so big and grand that, like an immense pic- 
ture, they must be seen from a distance to be 
appreciated. Others, like the sliimmering 
flakes of gold or the precious stones, are so 
dainty and small that we must view them 
closely to see their real beauty. In every case, 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 


39 


though, we have accepted Queen Nature as our 
teacher, and men and women are constantly 
striving to paint pictures or carve statues as 
beautiful as those which she has created. 

There are a few places on our earth, how- 
ever, where there are miles and miles of great 
barren hills —gray, colorless things. These 
places must be Queen Nature’s back yard, 
where she has dumped all the material which 
she could not use in making the other portions 
of the earth’s surface. There is a place in the 
western part of our own country called the 
“bad lands” which appears to be one of these 
dumping grounds. It also seems that there 
was more sand than could be used in her great 
garden scheme, for we find places, hundreds 
of miles long, where there is nothing but sand. 
As far as the eye can see there are plains of 
sand and hills of sand, hot and dry, with not 
a living thing upon it. We call these barren 
places the deserts. But the Queen, knowing 
that some day men would try to cross these 
burning sands, and that they v/ould not be able 
to do so without help, made little spots where 
a spring comes bubbling up and trees cast 


40 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

their welcome shade. These spots we call 
oases. Travelers of the great, lonesome desert 
rest there and become refreshed, and bless 
Queen Nature for her thoughtfulness. 

At last the work of carving and painting 
the earth ^s surface was finished. From the 
highest mountain peak to the tiniest grain of 
sand, nothing more remained to be done. Then 
Queen Nature summoned the fairy Princess 
Flora, to whom she gave all the precious seeds 
with which the Good King had intrusted her. 
And she told the fairy Princess to guard them 
carefully, for if one of the seeds should be lost, 
there would never be another like it. The 
Princess Flora received the seeds with loving 
care, and set about her task of turning the 
earth’s surface into a beautiful garden spot 
which would be our home. 


QUEEN NATURE’S GARDEN 41 

Questions suggested by the story : 

1. Into what kingdoms may the earth, as well as every- 

thing on it, be divided? 

2. Name several things belonging to each kingdom. 

3. What was the condition of the earth ages ago? 

4. How is the surface of the earth divided? 

5. Wliat is an ocean? How many oceans are there? 

Name them. 

6. What is a continent ? How many continents are there ? 

Name them. 

7. What is an island? A mountain? A valley? A 

cape? A peninsula? An isthmus? A plateau? 

8. What is a lake? A river? A gulf? A bay? A 

strait ? 

9. What makes pebbles smooth and round? 

10. From what point do we measure the height of a 

mountain ? 

11. What causes an earthquake? 

12. What causes a volcano? 

13. Whiat is the mouth or opening of a volcano called? 

14. What is a geyser? Wliat causes a geyser? WTiere 

are geysers found in this country? 

15. Name several metals. 

16. How was coal formed? 

17. Where do we get a large amount of gas and oil? 

18. Name several precious stones. 

19. What are plains? Deserts? Oases? 


THE TWO PRINCESSES 


The Princess Flora joyously entered into 
the work of turning the surface of the earth 
into a vast garden; for, like her mother, she 
was an artist and loved to create beautiful 
things. Queen Nature had told her that the 
garden not only must be beautiful, but that it 
must also contain everything necessary for us 
to live. So, before entering upon her work, 
the Princess made a trip over the entire world, 
in order that she might know where best to 
plant each of the precious seeds which the 
Queen had given her. 

At the north and south ends of the earth, 
which we call the poles, she found that it was 
always cold, and that the nights were nearly 
half a year long. She also found around the 
middle of the earth, like a broad belt, a region 
where frost and snow never came, but where 
it was always as hot as midsummer. Between 
the regions of eternal snow and eternal sum- 
42 


THE TWO PRINCESSES 


43 


mer were two broad belts in which she found 
both winter and summer, and spring and fall 
as well. The Princess did not know the names 
of these five divisions of the earth’s surface, 
but we call them zones. The cold ones around 
the ends of the earth we call the north and 
south frigid zones. The one in the center 
where it is always warm is the torrid zone. 
The other two are the north temperate and 
the south temperate zones. Eight in the 
middle of the torrid zone, the Princess found 
a narrow space, extending like a line around 
the earth, over which the sun at noontime 
always shines straight down, so that one’s 
shadow is squarely under one’s feet and can- 
not be seen at all. This line is exactly half 
wajr between the ends of the earth, and we 
have named it the equator. 

After the Princess Flora, like a good gar- 
dener, had looked her garden plot over care- 
fully, she separated her seeds into several 
groups. She did not intend to sow them care- 
lessly, but to place each in the spot where she 
thought it would love to grow. Some of the 
seeds were almost as large as your head, and 


44 QUEEN NATURE^S FAIRY HELPERS 


some were so tiny that they looked like a speck 
of dust; yet to each she gave the most loving 
thought and care. In the icy regions of the far 
north and south the Princess was sure that 
none of her plants would grow. Where she 
found a bit of smnmer, however, even though 
the winters were long, she sowed the seeds of 
the plants which love the cold and are strong 
enough to withstand it. In these countries 
live the dwarfs of the plant family— sturdy 
little shrubs, mosses and lichens. They have 
so little time each year to grow that they are 
very small. 

In the colder parts of the temperate zones 
and on the mountain sides she planted the 
seeds of the tall, stately pines, firs, hemlock 
and cedar. These trees do not lose their leaves 
or needles in the fall, and for that reason are 
called evergreens. In the warmer portions of 
these two zones she sowed countless seeds, 
among them being the seeds of the trees that 
we love the best, such as the oak, the elm, 
the maple, the willow, and the vast number 
of nut- and fruit-bearing trees. Most of these 
drop their foliage in the fall and send forth 


THE TWO PRINCESSES 


45 


new leaves in the spring. The Princess also 
planted thousands of vines and low shrubs, 
thus adding greatly to the beauty of her 
scheme. She planted the many grains, vege- 
tables, and berries where they could easily be 
found, and we have learned to use them for 
food. She covered the wide plains with a thick 
carpet of grass, that cattle might never want 
for food, or birds for seed. 

In the hot coimtries of the torrid zone, the 
Princess sowed the seeds of those plants which 
cannot endure the cold. In the intense heat 
and dampness of this region, trees and other 
plants grow to almost unbelievable size and 
numbers. Here are tall, graceful ferns, and 
vines of wonderful strength. Here we find the 
palm, the rosewood and the mahogany, the 
wide-spreading live oak from whose branches 
beautiful mosses hang in long festoons, and 
other trees bearing delicious fruits, nuts and 
spices. 

When the Princess had planted all the trees 
and shrubs, the vines and the grasses, then 
over the whole world she sprinkled the seeds 
of the flowers. And from the borders of 


40 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

eternal snow to the hot wide path of the sun, 
there grow to-day thousands of beautiful 
flowers which delight us with their smile wher- 
ever we may go. From the brave little edel- 



Princess Flora scattering seeds over the earth. 


weiss, which sends its white flowers through 
the snow on the mountain side, to the gorgeous, 
lazy orchid, which depends on other plants for 
food and grows so wonderfully in the tropics, 
these favorites of the Princess add joy to our 
lives through the beauty of their exquisite 
colors. 

Among the seeds of the flowers, the Princess 


THE TWO PRINCESSES 


47 


found many curious ones for which there 
seemed to be no place on the land. So she 
planted them in the beds of the rivers, lakes 
and oceans. Those in the shallow waters 
reach their long stems to the air and send 
forth beautiful white, yellow, pink, and laven- 
der flowers. These flowers float lazily on the 
surface, and we have named them water lilies 
and lotus. Other seeds grow and blossom into 
strange, beautiful shapes far below the sur- 
face of the ocean. 

When the Princess Flora had completed 
her work and the earth was as beautiful as it 
was possible for her to make it. Queen Nature 
gave to the Princess Fauna all the baby ani- 
mals which she had received from the Good 
King. And she told the Princess to guard 
them carefully, for if one of these little ones 
should die there would never be another like 
it. Before the Princess Fauna undertook her 
work, she made a long trip over the earth, just 
as her sister had done, that she might know 
which parts of the world were best suited to 
the needs of the young animals. Then she 
studied each little creature ; and when she had 


48 QUEEN NAl-UEE’S FAIRY HELPERS 



Princess Fauna, guardian of the animal "kingdom, 

determined which spot it would like the best, 
she set about finding for each a home. 

Those animals which love the cold she 
placed in the far north and south countries. 
Among them were the whale with its blanket 
of fat, the seal with its beautiful fur, the rein- 
deer with its graceful horns, and the polar 
bear with its shaggy white coat. On the wide 
plains and in the fertile valleys of the tem- 
perate zones, where there were plenty of 


THE TWO PRINCESSES 


49 


grasses and grains, she placed the horses, 
cattle, buffalo, and sheep. The wolves, bears, 
and foxes she sent to the 
I forests where they could 

hunt their game unseen. 
The warm forests of the 
torrid zone became a playground for chatter- 
ing monkeys. The lions, tigers, and ele- 
phants soon learned to roam through the 
tall grasses and jungles of this hot region. 
The camel, because it can go for days without 
water, was sent to the hot 
dry countries. The giraffe, 
whose neck is so long that 
it eats with difficulty from 
the ground, found a home 
where it could dine with 
ease from the branches of trees and shrubs. 
Hundreds of timid little animals, such as the 
squirrel, the mouse, the gopher, and the mole, 
were given hiding places in the ground or 
hollow trees. Because some of them could not 
find things to eat during the cold weather, 
when the ground was covered with snow, the 
Princess taught them to sleep through the long 



50 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

winter months, snugly hidden away in their 
cozy nests. 

The fish and those animals which love the 
water, the Princess placed 
^ in the oceans, lakes and 
rivers. From the smallest 
gold fish, like the one in 
your globe at home, to the 
largest whale, each water- 
loving animal found a home 
in the place it liked the best. The busy little 
bee, the industrious ant, the lazy grasshopper, 
the vain but beautiful 
butterfly, and all the hun- 
dreds of other insects, 
were tenderly cared for. 

Even the snakes and other 
reptiles were given homes, 
the largest ones, such as 
the alligator, the croco- 
dile, and the python, being 
placed in the swamps and 
forests of the torrid zone, and the warm por- 
tions of the temperate zones. 

When all these living things, from the tiniest 




THE TWO PRINCESSES 


51 


insect, which must be seen with the aid of a 
microscope, to the mammoth elephant, had 
found the home that it loved, the Princess 
opened the doors of great cages. And then 
a vast fluttering of wings arose, as over the 
whole world flew the hundreds and thousands 
of birds. There were beautiful birds and 
strong birds; birds with huge bills like the 
pelican; birds with keen eyes like the eagle 



52 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


and hawk; birds with beautiful tails like the 
peacock, the lyre bird and the bird of para- 
dise. There were little snow birds that brave 
the cold winters of the north, and birds of 
gay pliunage that flit like a ray of light from 
tree to tree in the tropics. But best of all, 
there were the birds whose beautiful voices 
make joyous to-day the woods and meadows of 
the whole world. 

When the work of the Princess Fauna was 
finished, and had been approved by Queen 
Nature, the Good King sent men and women 
to live in this beautiful paradise. We can 
imagine the joy with which the first man and 
woman beheld this wonderful garden spot and 
the things which had been created for their 
use and pleasure. We can imagine how they 
hastened to give to each animal and plant a 
name by which to distinguish it from the rest. 
In addition to the names they gave, we have 
called all the things in the animal kingdom 
after the Princess Fauna, and all the things 
in the vegetable kingdom after the Princess 
Flora. So, when some one asks you what the 
flora of a country is, you will know that he 


THE TWO PRINCESSES 


63 


means everything which belongs to the vege- 
table kingdom. If he asks you what the fauna 
of a country is, you will know that he means 
all the living creatures in the animal kingdom. 
We really belong to the animal kingdom our- 
selves, but we have one thing which other ani- 
mals do not possess. That is the power to 
think and speak, and it is this power which 
makes us master over the most dangerous of 
beasts. 

There is scarcely a thing belonging to any 
of the three kingdoms for which we have not 
found a use. The rocks, the metals and the 
trees furnish us with an unlimited supply of 
building material. We make clothing from 
hemp and cotton and from the wool of the 
sheep. We eat the delicious fruits, nuts, vege- 
tables and grains. We also depend upon 
many of the animals, birds and fish for food. 
Goats and cattle furnish us with butter and 
milk, while fowl of various kinds give us eggs, 
without which our breakfasts would not be 
complete. The tiny silk worm spins for us 
the beautiful shiny threads from which we 
make pretty gowns. The little bee gathers for 


S4 QUEEN NATURE’S PAIRY HELPERS 

US his combs of golden honey. The maple tree 
and the sugar cane give us their sap, from 
which we make delicious sugar. From the far 
north the whale sends us its pliable bones and 
many barrels of oil. From the south the ele- 
phant supplies us with the creamy ivory of 
his tusks. The oyster in his ocean bed gives 
place in his shell for the dainty and valuable 
pearl. A tiny creature, patiently building 
year after year from the depths of the ocean, 
fashions for us the beautiful corals of pink 
and white. Our warm furs come from the 
seal, the mink, the beaver, and the fox. 

Horses, camels, and ele- 
phants perform for us 
wonderful tasks. It seems 
as if there is nothing in 
the world that was not made especially to 
bring us comfort and pleasure. 

While the two Princesses were creating the 
garden and filling it with life. Queen Nature 
was not idle. She was busily engaged in mak- 
ing and writing in a large book those wonder- 
ful laws of which you have heard so much. 
When a tree was planted in a cold climate, she 



THE TWO PRINCESSES 


55 


made it a law that that particular kind of 
tree must forever grow in a cold climate. 
When cattle were placed on the great plains, 
she created the law that such animals shall eat 
only growing things. When fish were placed 
in the sea, she immediately made the law that 
they could not live upon the land. Those which 
were placed in salt water cannot live long 
in the lakes and rivers ; and those which began 
life in fresh water can never live in the ocean. 
It is one of Nature’s laws that trees must be 
strong and independent, and that vines must 
ever cling to some support ; that fiowers must 
blossom and bear seed, from which like fiowers 
must grow. It is a law of Nature that if you 
plant an acorn, an oak will grow— never a, 
maple or a pine. These laws, which are count- 
less, are in force to-day, and the punishment is 
sometimes swift and sure to those who break 
them. For example, there is a law that cer- 
tain plants must not be used for food. If we 
eat them, in pain we suffer the penalty, for we 
have broken a law of Nature. It is a law of 
Nature that if we destroy all the animals or 
plants of a particular kind, we can never have 


56 QUEEN NATURE^S FAIRY HELPERS 

another like them ; for in spite of the wonder- 
ful things that man can do and the strange 
things that he has invented, he cannot create 
one of Queen Nature’s children— not even a 
blade of grass. 

Queen Nature’s work did not end when her 
garden was completed and her book of laws 
finished. She is just as busy to-day, caring 
for her children, looking after their comfort 
and giving them advice. To the trees and 
little flowers she whispers that winter is com- 
ing, and they drop their leaves and prepare 
for a long sleep. In the fall she tells the 
squirrel that it is time to gather his store of 
nuts, and the winter finds him well prepared. 
Long before the first frost creeps over the 
land she guides the summer birds to the warm 
southland, and when the trees blossom in the 
spring she calls them back again. She teaches 
the little birds to fly, and the young animals 
to walk and swim. She tells the bee, laden 
with his golden honey, the shortest way to 
carry his burden home. For all living things 
she has a message, and they obey her instantly 
and without question, for they know that her 


THE TWO PRINCESSES 


57 


wisdom will always guide them aright. We 
call this understanding between Queen Nature 
and her children instinct. Like the animals, 
we^ too, have instincts that teach us much; 
but, unlike them, we have an even greater gift, 
which is called the power to reason. It is this 
power which makes us cultivate the land, tame 
the animals, educate ourselves, and use the 
wonderful things which the Good King has 
provided for us. When we exercise this rea- 
soning power to the best of our ability and 
obey all the laws which Queen Nature has 
created for our guidance, we are quite sure to 
live happily in this beautiful garden of ours. 



■k- 


58 * 


QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


Questions suggested by the story: 

1. How many zones are there? Name them. 

2. What is the equator ? 

3. Name several trees and plants that grow in the frigid 

zones. 

4. What flowers blossom in the snow? 

6. Name several trees and plants that grow in the tem- 
perate zones. 

6. Name several trees and plants that grow in the torrid 

zone. 

7. Name several animals that live in the frigid zones. 

8. Name several animals that live in the temperate zones. 

9. Name several animals that live in the torrid zone. 

10. Name and describe several kinds of birds. 

11. What is meant by the flora of a country? 

12. What is meant by the fauna of a country? 

13. To what kingdom do people belong? 

14. What makes us different from other animals? 

15. From what source do we get maple sugar? Honey? 

Silk? Cotton? Oil? Ivory? Pearls? Coral? 

16. Name two laws of nature. 

17. What is instinct? 


THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE 
SILVER MIST 

Prince Silver Mist is so tiny that sometimes 
he is entirely invisible; but when he can be 
seen he wears a beautiful silver dress. He has 
so many brothers and sisters, just as tiny as 
himself, that all the people in the whole world 
could not count them in a million years. They 
are called the Mist Fairies, and they are just 
about the smallest things in the world. It 
takes a great many of them to be as large as 
a drop of water, and they all live together 
in their home in the ocean. Sometime when 
you stand on the seashore, take into your hand 
one drop of water, and remember that this 
drop of water is made up of a great many tiny 
drops, each one of which is a Mist Fairy. 
Then if you will remember that there are five 
of these great bodies of water, besides count- 
less lakes and rivers, you will realize how 

59 


60 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

very many of the dainty little creatures there 
must be. 

If you have seen the ocean, you will know 
that it is not like the water in our lakes and 
rivers ; but is so full of salt that is is very un- 
pleasant to drink. The Mist Fairies are very 
fond of the salt water, however, for it helps 
them to perform their work. Do you know 
that it is much easier to swim or float in the 
ocean than in fresh water? The reason for 
this is that the salt particles strengthen the 
Mist Fairies, so that they can bear us up more 
easily. 

The flrst recollection of little Silver Mist 
was of a dark, mysterious place many hun- 
dreds of feet below the surface of the ocean, 
where he was sure he had been for years and 
where it was extremely cold. He was quite 
contented, however, as he drifted idly with the 
other Mist Fairies, watching the curious crea- 
tures which live in the depths of the ocean. 
He never dreamed that there was anything 
better than the cold and darkness of his ocean 
home. But one day Silver Mist experienced a 
most delightful sensation which he could not 


ADVENTURES OF PRINCE SILVER MIST 61 



understand, but which filled him with a desire 
to seek adventures in other parts of the world. 
What really happened was that Silver Mist 
was growing slightly warmer ; and it is one of 
Queen Nature’s laws that when her children 
become warm they shall rise from the surface 
of the earth, if it is possible for them to do so. 
The higher Silver Mist went, the warmer he 
became ; and the warmer he became, the higher 
he went. So he and all the other Mist Fairies 
near him went up and up, until all at once they 
were on the surface of the ocean; and then 



62 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


Silver Mist had his first wonderful experience. 
Eight on top of the ocean, but resting so 
lightly that they had no weight at all, were the 
Ladders of Light which the Heat King had 
let down from his kingdom in the sun; and 
his daughters, the tiny Sunbeam Princesses, 
were dancing on the face of the water. 

The Mist Fairies who were already on the 
surface of the ocean were laughing and danc- 
ing and playing with the little Princesses. 
Soon Silver Mist and thousands of his brothers 



Silver Mist on the top of an ocean wave. 


ADVENTURES OP PRINCE SILVER MIST 63 

were dashing high into the air on the very top 
of great waves, and sparkling with the joy of 
the delightful game. At last a particularly 
brilliant and happy little Princess called and 
beckoned to him as she danced up the ladder, 
and he followed her. On and on and up and 
up they went, laughing in glee, until suddenly 
Silver Mist found himself very far from his 
home. However, there were a great many of 
the other Mist Fairies near him ; and as they 
were afraid to go down the ladders, they 
stayed up in the sky, timidly creeping closer 
and closer to each other. When you hear 
father say that the water in a pail has evapo- 
rated, which is a big word meaning flown 
away, you will know that the Sunbeam Prin- 
cesses have been playing with the Mist Fairies 
and have coaxed them up the Ladders of 
Light, until they have become lost in the sky. 

When the Mist Fairies had crept very close 
together, they formed a downy mass much 
like a drift of snow. For many days they 
floated about — the beautiful blue sky above 
them and the wonderful world spread out 
below. Almost any day you can see a few 


64 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

million of these Mist Fairies floating in the 
sky in the shape of downy clouds. Sometimes 
they amuse themselves by turning the big 
white mass into curious shapes, which look 
like flocks of sheep, or boats, or birds. When 
the sun shines on the upper side of these 
clouds, they appear to be lined with silver. 
Now you know what we mean when we say 
that every cloud has a silver lining.” 

And so Silver Mist spent many a long, lazy 
summer day. But one day it grew colder and 
the Mist Fairies huddled closer and closer 
together, at first forming themselves into tiny 
drops of water, and then into larger drops. 
It grew colder still, and they were tossed and 
rolled about and over and over, when suddenly 
a dreadful thing happened. A streak of blind- 
ing light, which surely was never any kind of 
Sunbeam Princess, passed through the cloud, 
followed by a terrific crash. The Mist Fairies 
were dreadfully frightened; and they rushed 
together into such big drops of water that they 
could stay in the sky no longer. Then Silver 
Mist felt himself falling down, down, until 
with a big splash the drop of water with which 


ADVENTURES OF PRINCE SILVER MIST 65 

he had been traveling struck something hard, 
and all the Mist Fairies scattered. 

For a little while Silver Mist lay exhausted, 
wondering what had happened. Then, feeling 
something draw him gently downward, he 
sank into the warm earth, where it was so very 
dark that he could not see the other Mist 
Fairies who were with him. But, finding tiny 
passageways between the grains of sand and 
earth, he wandered on and on, stopping now 
and then to examine the curious things which 
he found. After some time, he could not tell 
whether it was days or hours, he found him- 
self beside a strange, hairlike structure, with 
a tiny door open in front of him. He had 
grown more courageous by this time ; so, enter- 
ing the door, he mounted up and up, carrying 
with him some of the curious things which he 
had found in the earth. As he went up the 
narrow tunnel, the darkness began to dis- 
appear. At first he could see a dull, brown 
light, which a little farther on turned to dark 
green. This became brighter and brighter, 
until all at once Silver Mist found himself in 
a beautiful pink and white room, through 


66 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

which the light came softly. Just so softly 
does the light come through the pink shades 
over the pretty candles that your mother puts 
on the dinner table at night. And what do 
you suppose had happened? Silver Mist, 
down in the earth, had found the tiny root of 
a rose bush, a little door of which was open. 
Entering, he had climbed higher and higher, 
until at last he had come to a delicate petal of 
the rose in bloom. He was so delighted with 
his experience, and so charmed with his pretty 
hostess, that he begged her to accept the 



Silver Mist standing on the delicate petal of a rose. 


ADVENTURES OF PRINCE SILVER MIST 67 

strange things which he had brought with him. 
The rose received them gratefully, for to her 
they were the most delicious of food. 

Silver Mist stayed in this beautiful, fra- 
grant place for two or three days, and strange 
creatures with gauzy wings came and 
whispered softly to the rose. One day, how- 
ever, the Sunbeam Princesses called to him; 
and, finding his way through an open window 
in the petal. Silver Mist once more mounted 
the Ladders of Light. Not being at all afraid 
this time, he went higher and higher, until at 
last it grew so cold, and he and the other 
Mist Fairies crept so close together, that they 
could not separate. And what do you suppose 
had happened this time? They had become 
frozen little mist drops. And when, by and 
by. King Gravity called to them, they came 
floating and fluttering down to earth in beauti- 
ful flakes of snow. 

These experiences taught Silver Mist one of 
Queen Nature’s well-known laws, which is 
that when the Mist Fairies become very warm, 
they want to fly away from each other and 
high into the upper air; and when they are 


68 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 



The Mist Fairies pourinff out of the Jcettle in the form of steam. 


cold, they want to keep very close to each other 
and remain near the earth. Did you ever 
notice the steam coming out of the nose of the 
kettle when mother was making tea? When 
she puts the water into the kettle, all the Mist 
Fairies are together. As the water grows 
warmer, the Fairies feel that great desire to 
fly away from each other and into the sky; 
and then they come pouring out of the kettle 
in the form of steam. Although you would not 
think it possible, these little Fairies are very 
strong. They are so strong that they will actu- 
ally raise the lid of the kettle and make it 


ADVENTURES OF PRINCE SILVER MIST 69 


rattle in their desire to get away quickly. 
Sometimes men imprison a great many of 
them in the boilers of engines, and make them 
work tremendously in pulling great trains 
over the country. The more Mist Fairies 
there are in a small space and the warmer they 
become, the harder they try to fly away; and 
the faster goes the train, or the bigger the 
load they will pull. So you will remember 
that all the power of a big steam engine is due 
to the fact that the Mist Fairies imprisoned 
therein, having grown very warm, exert a tre- 
mendous force in trying to fly away. 

Sometimes the Mist Fairies are so tiny that 
they cannot be seen at all, and they float about 
in the air, quite invisible. When there are 
very many of them in the atmosphere, we can 
feel that the air is damp ; and then people say 
that the humidity is great. This big word will 
never puzzle us again, will it? Some warm 
summer day, when father says that the 
humidity is great, ask mother for a glass 
pitcher, fill it with ice water and set it on the 
table. Then see what happens. All the little 
Mist Fairies in the air near the pitcher will 


70 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

feel the cold from the surface and creep close 
together. Soon the pitcher will be covered 
with a fine, silvery veil, and by and by little 
rivers of water will run down the sides. Some 
children, and even some grown people, think 
that the water comes through the pitcher. 
But you will know that this is the greatest 
nonsense, and you can tell such people that it 
is only the little Mist Fairies becoming visible 
because they are so cold. 

When Silver Mist had fallen to the earth in 
a big fiake of snow, he did not find a warm, 
cozy nook into which to creep ; but he and the 
brothers and sisters who were with him lay 
imprisoned in a huge snowbank during the 
long winter months. The Sunbeam Princesses 
visited them, but they could not bring enough 
heat to melt the icy chains which held the 
Fairies and set the little prisoners free. The 
long winter brought much pleasure, however, 
for Silver Mist lay near the top of a great hill, 
and in the morning children came to coast 
over the sparkling snow. The Moonbeam 
Princesses played hide-and-seek with the 
Fairies at night, and strange four-footed crea- 


ADVENTURES OF PRINCE SILVER MIST 71 



The Moonbeam Princesses played hide and seeTc with the Fairies 
at night. 


tures left curious tracks as they scampered 
about, nibbling the tiny twigs which showed 
here and there above the white drifts. 

However, all things come to an end at last, 
and in the springtime the air grew fragrant 
and warm. Gradually the snow melted, and 
the chains which held Silver Mist were 
broken. Some of the Mist Fairies again 
climbed the Ladders of Light ; but Silver Mist 
once more sank into the warm earth. Here he 
remained for many days, exploring the dark 



72 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

tunnels among the tiny grains of sand. Once 
he ran up a blade of grass and narrowly 
missed being eaten by a ferocious beast. He 
escaped, however, although some of his 
brothers were not so fortunate. They dis- 
appeared, and Silver Mist never saw them 
again. He remained until morning on the 
edge of the grass blade. During the night, 
the Mist Fairies gathered in tiny drops of 
water on the long grass, and the Moonbeam 
Princesses hunted them out and danced with 
them. People said that there had been a heavy 
dew, but they did not know what a beautiful 
thing had happened while they slept. 

In the morning the Mist Fairies separated, 
some floating up into the sky in the form of 
a heavy fog, and some sinking into the ground. 
Among the latter was Silver Mist, who con- 
tinued his journeys underground for many 
more days. At last he and a great many other 
Mist Fairies came tiunbling and bubbling out 
into the sunlight, in the very heart of a great 
spring of clear, sparkling water. Here all the 
happy little fairies frolicked together and 
tossed the white particles of sand. For a little 


ADVENTURES OF PRINCE SILVER MIST 73 


while Silver Mist thought that he must be at 
home in the ocean, but he soon discovered that 
the place was quite small. He liked it, how- 
ever, and decided to remain there ; but one day 
when dancing to the surface of the spring, he 
whirled so close to the edge that he lost his 
balance and went swiftly over the side with a 
thousand other Mist Fairies. Then away they 
scampered in a merry little brooklet, singing 
down the mountain side. 

Questions suggested by the story : 

1. In what way is the water in the ocean different from 

that in lakes and rivers? 

2. Of what is a drop of water composed? 

3. What does the word ‘^evaporate” mean? 

4. Of what are the clouds composed? 

5. What causes rain? 

6. What good does the water in the ground do ? 

7. What gives power to steam engines? 

8. What does the word ^humidity” mean? 

9. What sometimes happens when there is a great deal 

of moisture in the air? 

10. What causes dew? 

11. What is a spring? What causes it? 


THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF 
PRINCE SILVER MIST 

When Silver Mist felt himself slipping and 
falling over the edge of the spring he was 
just a bit frightened. However, he soon saw 
that the other Mist Fairies considered it won- 
drous fun; so he joined in the happy gurgling 
and murmuring which the little brook made as 
it glided over the rough rocks, and in and 
out among the soft green nooks. For some 
distance the brooklet romped and played 
through the quiet wood, where the shadows 
lay deep and the tall ferns sheltered it from 
sight. Bright leaves drifted gently down, and 
birds and timid little animals came to drink 
from the tiny pools. By and by the trees be- 
came fewer, and all at once the little brook 
came dashing out into the bright daylight 
where the Sunbeam Princesses were waiting 
to welcome the Mist Fairies. The way here 
was almost level and the brook scarcely moved, 

74 


FURTHER ADVENTURES 


75 



Silver Mist had his first thrilling experience in a waterfall. 


76 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

but spread out over the soft green grass of 
the meadow, reflecting the blue sky and the 
bright flowers that nodded so gaily at the 
water’s edge. Silver Mist wanted to stay in 
this warm, lazy place, but a great many other 
Mist Fairies, who must have tumbled over the 
edge of the little spring, came rippling along ; 
and so he hastened on his way, eager for the 
next adventure. 

Half way down the meadow the little brook 
was joined by another almost as large. Soon 
the way grew steep and was strewn with rocks 
over which the Fairies tumbled and laughed, 
chasing the Sunbeam Princesses high into the 
air. One day they came too near the edge of 
a cliff, and Silver Mist had his first thrilling 
experience in a waterfall. What glorious fun 
it was to let go at the top of a ledge and fall 
in a long swift curve to the bottom, ending in 
a white, misty spray I Just so do you and your 
playmates coast down long, steep hills, when 
the weather is crispy cold, and the snow is 
soft and feathery at the bottom of the hill. 

By this time the brook had been joined by 
so many others that it had become a real river 


FURTHER ADVENTURES 


77 


which flowed more swiftly. Sometimes it 
wound its way through sunlit meadows of 
grass, or waving flelds of grain; and some- 
times through the deep shadows of a wood 
with low-hanging trees. Here children came 
to float their toy boats and to swim in the deep 
holes. And they splashed about, stirring up 
the mud until the Mist Fairies were so dirty 
that even the Sunbeam Princesses could not 
recognize their little playmates. Silver Mist 
loved it all, but especially he welcomed the 
rocks and the swift waterfalls. One day as 
the Mist Fairies started down one of these 
lovely toboggans, instead of falling straight to 
the bottom, as they always had done before, 
they presently found themselves in a little 
bucket or cup. When this cup was full of 
water, it moved slowly downward, carrying 
the Fairies with it. Did you ever, at a picnic 
or a fair, take a ride in a small car attached to 
a huge wheel which turned over and over? 
Well, that is exactly the kind of ride that 
Silver Mist had, only the wheel in which he 
rode was part of a great mill. It was the 
weight of the Mist Fairies in the little cars 


78 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

which turned the wheel, and thus caused the 
machinery in the mill to grind into flour the 
golden wheat that had grown and ripened 
along the very edges of the little brook. 

Soon after leaving the mill, the river entered 
a body of water which was so large that Silver 
Mist thought it surely must be the ocean. He 
soon learned that it was called a lake, and that 
into it came many brooks and rivers. In the 
journey from the spring, many other Mist 
Fairies had joined the brook, and many who 
started with it had disappeared. Some of 
them had been coaxed away by the Sunbeam 
Princesses; others had lingered by the way- 
side, sinking into the soft ground at the roots 
of a sweet-faced violet or a tall, graceful tree. 
But Silver Mist was not tempted to leave the 
brook, for he had been far overhead in the 
deep blue sky, and he had explored the dark 
tunnels of the earth. Now he was anxious 
to know what further adventures awaited him 
in this large body of water. 

It was while he was a visitor in the lake that 
Silver Mist saw one of the most beautiful 
sights in all Queen Nature’s wonderland. 


FURTHER ADVENTURES 79 

This was the dance of the Sunbeam Prin- 
cesses with the Mist Fairies far up in the 
clouds. When the Mist Fairies come down 
in big drops of rain, the Sunbeam Prin- 
cesses are usually hidden behind the 
clouds. This time, however, there were no 
clouds in the way; and so, all dressed in 
their beautiful seven-colored gowns, the Prin- 
cesses met the Mist Fairies in midair, where 
they joined together in a merry dance. When 
the bright light of the pretty gowns struck the 
little drops of water, a beautiful and wonder- 
ful thing happened. All the seven bright 
colors were reflected from the raindrops, just 
as a row of lights is reflected from a mirror. 
And people on the earth saw against the back- 
ground of a dark cloud a broad band of the 
seven colors, forming a great arch across the 
sky. This wonderful arch is called the rain- 
how. On the first warm, rainy summer day 
when you see this pretty bow, you will remem- 
ber that it is the seven bright colors reflected 
from the little drops of water, as the Sunbeam 
Princesses and the Mist Fairies dance together 
in the sky. 


so QUEEN NATURE’S EAIRY HELPERS 


After many weeks of quietness in the lake, 
when he was satisfied that no further adven- 
tures awaited him, Silver Mist awoke one 
morning to find that winter had come while 
he had been sleeping. The edges of the lake 
were covered with a thin coating of ice, which 
grew thicker and wider as the days passed, 
until the entire lake was covered. Then the 
Sunbeam Princesses danced on the glistening 
surface and happy children on their shining 
skates glided swiftly over the lake. One day 
when the ice had become about a foot and a 
half thick, men with saws cut it into cakes. 
Then they drew the pieces of ice to the edge of 
the lake, and packed them in buildings to keep 
them from melting. The ice was afterwards 
carried to a big city, and when the warm 
weather of the next summer came, the Mist 
Fairies imprisoned in these clear, crystal 
cakes saved the lives of many little children 
by keeping their milk cool and sweet. Silver 
Mist was sorry that this beautiful task did not 
fall to his lot, but his work lay elsewhere. 

One night in the early fall. Silver Mist and 
some of the other Mist Fairies had a curious 


FURTHER ADVENTURES 81 

experience. A camper, hunting along the 
edges of the lake, had filled a bottle with water 
in which they chanced to be. Then he care- 
lessly forgot all about the bottle and left it on 
the ground. During the night the weather 
turned very cold. Just before the water began 
to freeze, in obedience to one of Queen Nature’s 
most curious laws, all the little Mist Fairies in 
the bottle began to expand, that is, grow larger. 
So by the time the water was cold enough to 
turn into ice, the Mist Fairies in the bottle 
were larger than the bottle itself, and with a 
loud crack it burst. The next cold winter 
morning when you see the pretty glass which 
you left filled with water the night before all 
cracked and broken, you will remember that 
the damage was caused by the little Mist 
Fairies expanding just before they turned into 
ice. 

Now, when all these expanded Mist Fairies 
are imprisoned in a block of ice, the ice is much 
lighter than the water around it, and so it 
floats. This law compelling the mist fairies to 
grow larger and lighter as they are turning 
into ice is one of the wisest of Queen Nature’s 


82 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

laws. The layer of ice which stays on top of 
the water really protects the water underneath 
it. If the ice should sink to the bottom of the 
lake or river as fast as it forms, all the water 
would soon be frozen and all the fish be killed. 

With the first warm rays of spring the ice 
commenced to melt, and Silver Mist once more 
found himself free, just at the opening out of 
the lake. So he pushed gaily on, eager to meet 
further adventures. He now became part of a 
large river, which did not flow swiftly, but grew 
broader and deeper as each new bend and 
turn brought brooks and smaller rivers to join 
it. Once, in passing through a wood, almost 
the entire surface of the water was covered 
with logs, which the Mist Fairies cheerfully 
carried for miles, until they came to a great 
noisy mill. There the logs were cut and sawed 
into piles of yellow lumber. Farther on, they 
passed through a queer place where there were 
no trees or grass, but only a wall of high build- 
ings and many bridges. Over these bridges 
shrieking trains passed, while underneath 
fussy little boats dashed to and fro. When the 
big city was left behind, the river grew 


FURTHER ADVENTURES 


83 


broader still and boats of various kinds ap- 
peared. Some bad beautiful white sails and 
some were low and narrow, cutting through 
the water like a knife and sending the Mist 
Fairies high on either side. And there were 
great, majestic boats, some loaded with fra- 
grant lumber and some with gaily dressed peo- 
ple and happy children. Here at night all 
over the broad surface of the river many of 
the Mist Fairies rose in a soft white fog, and 
in the morning they became invisible and 
floated away. 

Silver Mist from all these experiences 
learned a wonderful truth, which is that a 
drop of water can never be destroyed. It may 
evaporate, become invisible and go into the 
air; but it only stays there until it is joined 
by enough fairies to make a big drop, when 
it comes back to earth in the form of rain, 
or hail, or snow. It may sink into the ground, 
where it may linger for days or months, carry- 
ing food into the veins of a rose or tree ; but 
sooner or later it will find its way into a 
spring. It may be boiled and changed into 
steam, or it may be frozen into ice ; but some 


84 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 





Silver Mist was once more at home and part of the mighty ocean. 


day the imprisoned Mist Fairies will escape 
into the sky and then King Gravity will call 
them back to earth. Silver Mist learned the 
many names by which the Mist Fairies are 
sometimes called ; but whether they are known 
as mist, fog, steam, rain, hail, snotv, water, or 
ice, they are the same happy little Fairies, 
always cheerfully performing their tasks. 

As the river grew larger, it became broader 
still and flowed more slowly, until it seemed 
to Silver Mist that he and his companions 
scarcely moved. By and by the little ripples 
grew into big waves, which tossed the boats 
that glided up and down the stream. Then 



FURTHER ADVENTURES 


85 


one bright, beautiful morning something hap- 
pened which brought glad memories to Silver 
Mist and made him dance with joy. In the 
huge wave that came to meet him, he felt the 
wonderful salt which he had not tasted for 
months and years. And he knew that— after 
an exciting voyage in the air, the earth, the 
spring, the brook, the lake, and the river — ^his 
wonderful adventures were ended. He was 
once more at home, and a part of the mighty 
ocean. 


Questions suggested by the story: 

1. What is the difference between a brook and a river? 

2. What is a waterfall? 

3. How does water assist in grinding flour? 

4. What causes the rainbow? 

5. Wliat happens to water just before it freezes ? 

6. What would happen in the lakes and rivers if water 

did not expand in freezing ? 

7. How do men sometimes move logs from the woods to 

the mill? 

8. Name eight forms of water. 

9. Can water be destroyed? 

10. Where do we get the ice that we use in summer? 

11. Of what use is a river? 


THE WICKED GIANT 


Many thousands of years ago there came to 
live in the immense space between our earth 
and the kingdom in the sun a wicked giant 
called the Frost King. He was the son of the 
Prince of Night, who for so many years had 
been the enemy of the Good King. You will 
remember that it was the Prince of Night who 
gave to Brown Eyes and Golden Hair the evil 
gifts which the Queen of Day turned into 
blessings. The country over which the Frost 
King rules is extremely cold, and he is always 
striving to extend this icy region over the 
whole universe. Were it not for our dear 
Sunbeam Princesses, the earth, which really 
lies within his kingdom, would be frozen into 
eternal ice. The Sunbeam Princesses are 
obliged to pass through this cold country when 
they come to visit us, and one would think that 
the bright little gowns they wear would not 
86 


THE WICKED GIANT 


87 


keep out the cold. But when they were very 
tiny, they also received the blessing of the 
Queen of Bay; and so the wicked giant is 
powerless to harm them, or even to delay them 
on their journey to the earth. 

We do not wholly escape his power, however, 
for near the poles of the earth, where dark- 
ness reigns for nearly half a year, the Frost 
King has frozen solid the land and water and 
covered it with snow that never melts. And 
in the winter time of the temperate zones, 
when he lays his icy hand upon the earth, we 
shrink from his touch and turn to the Fire 
Prince for warmth. Whenever the Sunbeam 
Princesses are absent for a long time, there 
you will find the work of the cruel king. The 
little Mist Fairies when they climb too high 
up the Ladders of Light sometimes come 
into his kingdom, just as Jack who climbed the 
Beanstalk came into a new country. Then the 
wicked giant, who has waited for just this 
opportunity, pounces upon them and makes 
them prisoners. He puts them into little crys- 
tal cases, where they would remain forever, if 
King Gravity did not come to their assistance 


88 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 



and bring them back to earth in the shape of 
dancing hail or beautiful flakes of snow. 

The tops of some of our mountains are so 
high that they extend into this region of cold, 
and they are therefore covered with snow 
which has become so deep on some of the high- 
est peaks that it never melts. In certain 
places, however, the snow has melted and been 
frozen, again and again, and has been packed 
for so many years, that at last it has 
turned into ice. You will understand how 
this happens if you have ever made a 


THE WICKED GIANT 


89 


ball of ice out of a handful of snow. The ice 
is so deep that you would think it as solid 
and immovable as the earth itself. But some 
day the lower portion of this ice field melts 
and starts to travel down the moimtain side, 
and the whole field follows. Slowly, slowly, 
only a few feet in a year, the huge mass moves 
down the mountain, carrying with it im- 
mense quantities of dirt and rock. It becomes 
in reality a great frozen river, always slowly 
melting at the bottom and always being re- 
newed from above. We call this river a 
glacier. When it has an outlet into the ocean, 
pieces of the frozen mass break off and fioat 
away like great ships. These fioating pieces 
are called icebergs. They have wrecked many 
a good ship which failed to see them in the 
night. Many years before there were people 
living on our earth, the glaciers were very 
numerous and very large. When they traveled 
down the mountain side, they carried with 
them rocks which they scattered all over the 
countries through which they passed. We 
find these rocks to-day and wise men can tell 
us just where they came from and just how 


90 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


many thousands of years ago they were 
brought to the spot where they are now 
resting. 

The Frost King makes two visits to the 
earth each year. The northern half, in which 
we live, he visits during the winter months, 
and it is then that the southern half is enjoy- 
ing the warm summer days. When summer 
comes to us, then it is winter time in the south- 
ern half and the Frost King is there. In the 
late fall and early spring the Frost King sends 
to us his son, who makes his home at the poles 
of the earth. We know this son so well that 
we call him by the nickname of Jack Frost. 
Jack is not so wicked as his father; besides, 
he is rather a jolly fellow, and his reign over 
the earth is not altogether unpleasant. When 
the air is sharp and crisp and the nuts are 
ripening on the trees, we are willing to for- 
give him for the unkind things he does. Of 
course, if it were not for the Heat King and 
the Fire Prince he would do much more harm ; 
but although he is sometimes a bit cruel, he 
has more the manner of a very naughty boy, 
performing mischievous tricks. 


THE WICKED GIANT 


91 


Jack Frost is really a wonderful artist, and 
one of the prettiest things he does is to draw 
beautiful pictures of purest white on the win- 
dow panes. He uses for his material the little 
drops of mist which have gathered on the glass. 
Sometime when the snow is falling, if you will 
look at the great feathery flakes with the aid 
of a magnifying glass, you will see most beau- 
tiful, fairy-like shapes and forms, scarcely two 
of them alike. And who does not love the 
long, glistening icicles which hang from the 
eaves of the barn on a sunshiny day in early 
spring? 



92 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

In the fall of the year J ack Frost passes 
over the land, and soon thereafter the foliage 
turns to brilliant red and glimmering gold. 
When the little flowers hear his step, they 
hasten to sow their seeds, and, dropping their 
leaves, go to sleep for the long winter months. 
The sap in the trees which all summer has 
been bringing food, runs hurriedly back into 
the ground so that it will not be frozen in the 
branches. If any of the flowers neglect the 
warning, or are courageous enough not to fear 
him. Jack Frost has no mercy on them. After 
his visit they droop their pretty heads, never 
to raise them again. When the Mist Fairies 
gather at night in the form of dew on the 
long grass, or on the roofs of buildings and 
the branches of trees, he turns them into frost. 
There they sparkle like crystal in the first 
rays of the morning sun, until the Sunbeam 
Princesses set them free. 

In October, and sometimes as early as Sep- 
tember, Jack Frost slyly begins his visits in 
the night. Silently he steals in y^hile we are 
asleep, and in the morning we And our pretty 
flowers all brown and drooping and a thin 


THE WICKED GIANT 


93 


coating of ice on the pail of water which we 
left outside the door at night. Gradually he 
grows bolder, laughing at the efforts of the 
Sunbeam Princesses to drive him from the 
earth. The trees lose their bright foliage ; the 
nuts and fruits come tumbling from the 
branches ; and the little birds take their flight 
to warmer climes. Then, if we are wise, we 
shall see that our clothing is thick and warm ; 
that our bins are well stocked with coal and 
wood; and that we have an abundant supply 
of fruit, vegetables and grain, for we know 
that the Frost King himself will soon be here. 

The days grow colder and colder, until in 
December, or sometimes late November, the 
Frost King arrives. Then for three or four 
months he wages a fierce struggle with his 
ancient enemy, the Heat King. Day after day 
the two kings struggle, each striving to control 
the world. During most of this time the Frost 
King appears to be gaining strength, and it 
seems as if the Heat King would surely be 
slain. But sometimes he overpowers the Frost 
King and holds him helpless. Then we have 
a few warm days in midwinter. 


94 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 



The battle between the Beat King and the Frost King. 


There is a wonderful little instrument that 
tells us which one of these two mighty kings 
is winning the battle. This instrument is 
called a thermometer. It is a little glass tube 
with a bulb at the lower end filled with mer- 
cury. As the battle rages the mercury rises 
and falls in this little tube, which is marked 
off into spaces called degrees. There is one 
degree marked ‘‘32,” which we call the freez- 
ing point. When the mercury is above this 
point the Heat King reigns. When it is at the 


THE WICKED GIANT 


93 


‘‘32’’ mark, we know that Jack Frost is 
abroad, and we hasten to protect our plants 
and flowers. As the mercury drops lower and 
lower, the Frost King gains more and more 
strength, and when it reaches the “0” or zero 
mark, we know that he has us in his cruel 
power. It is then that we turn to the wonder- 
ful Fire Prince, for it is through his strength 
alone that we are able to live during the long 
cold months of the Frost King’s reign. Then 
we gather round the glowing coals and laugh 
at the helpless rage of the wicked giant. The 
battle between the two kings is not always a 
silent one, for the Frost King howls in his 
anger, tossing the branches of the trees and 
shaking -the windows and doors in his efforts 
to break down the barriers which we have set 
against him. 

With the passing of February, the Frost 
King becomes somewhat exhausted, and the 
Heat King grows stronger and stronger, until 
in the latter part of March he has driven his 
foe from the land. Jack Frost comes occa- 
sionally even after that, and sometimes does 
much damage by nipping the tops of garden 


96 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


vegetables that have been brave enough to 
thrust their heads above the ground. But at 
last he also gives up his efforts to do more 
harm. And then the flowers peep forth from 
their winter beds, timidly at first ; but, as the 
Sunbeam Princesses coax them, they gain 
more and more courage, until at last they fling 
their blossoms to the breeze. The trees put on 
their beautiful coats, and the birds return to 
their nesting places in the orchards and the fir 
trees. Feeling the joyousness all around us, 
we array ourselves in pretty new clothes, and 
then all at once we realize that summer is here. 
The eternal battle has been fought once more, 
and once more the Heat King is victorious. 




THE WICKED GIANT 


97 


Questions suggested by the story: 

1. What are the poles of the earth? 

2. What is the climate at the poles ? 

3. How long are the days and nights at the poles? 

4. What do we call frozen mist ? 

5. Why are the tops of some mountains always cohered 

with snow? 

6. What are glaciers? 

7. What are icebergs? 

8. How does frost affect plants? 

9. What is a thermometer? 

10. What is the ^Treezing point” on a thermometer? 

11. Name the winter months? 

12. When it is winter here, what season are they having 

on the southern half of the earth? 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


On the first warm morning of early spring, 
have you ever felt upon your cheek the soft 
touch of a little breeze which seemed to bring 
the perfume of fiowers not yet in bloom? Or 
have you on a cold winter night raced madly 
down the street in vain pursuit of your hat, 
which a boisterous gale had rudely snatched 
from your head and sent rolling away? And 
do you know that the buffeting which you re- 



These miscMevous elves are the Air Fairies, 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


99 


ceived on that wild winter night and the gentle 
caress of the sweet spring breeze were both 
the touch of the most wonderful of all the 
fairies who live in the world to-day? These 
mischievous elves are the Air Fairies, who 
assist Queen Nature in caring for the children 
of the earth, and there seems to be no end 
to the wonderful things that they can do. 
There are two large families of these fairies, 
the Oxygen Fairies and the Nitrogen Fairies, 
besides two or three smaller families. They 
all live together in the big ocean which we 
call the atmosphere, and which surrounds the 
whole earth and extends upward for many 
miles. 

Because usually we cannot see, or hear, or 
feel these Fairies, we do not understand how 
very necessary they are to our life. But if 
it were not for them the work of Queen 
Nature and the two Princesses would be in 
vain, for no plant or animal could live. We 
can exist for several days without water or 
food, but we can live for only a few minutes 
without air. If you do not believe this is true, 
just bury your face in a pillow so that your 


100 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

mouth and nose are tightly covered, and see 
how long you can keep them there. In a very 
few minutes you will be unable to stand the 
pain and will seek relief in long deep breaths. 
The Oxygen Fairies are the ones who supply 
us with the air we breathe, and we should allow 
them to come and go freely through our 
homes, for they help us to be strong and well. 

You will remember that the Sunbeam Prin- 
cesses find it rather difficult to pass through 
this big ocean of air on their way to the earth, 
especially in the winter time when they are 
compelled to pass through slantingly. This 
teaches us that the air is just as real as the 
water or the land. Plants, as well as animals, 
breathe the air, and even the great Fire Prince 
would die without it. Now you can under- 
stand why, when the drafts are closed too 
tightly in the kitchen stove, the fire goes out, 
leaving unburned several sticks of wood. 
Sometime when big brother is not too busy, 
ask him to place a lighted match under a small 
glass. Notice how quickly it will cease to burn. 
As soon as the Fire Prince has breathed all 
the air in the little space he will smother, just 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


101 


as you would smother in a few minutes if your 
head remained buried in the pillow. 

This vast ocean of air which surrounds us 
is somewhat like the ocean of water that 
covers so large a part of the surface of the 
earth. Did you ever drop a stone into the 
water and watch the circles of tiny waves or 
ripples which formed where the stone went 
down ? And do you remember how they grew 
wider and wider until they touched the edge of 
the land? A similar thing happens when a 
hole is made in the atmosphere. When some 
one strikes a blow on a hard substance, ripples 
are produced in the air, and the circles thus 
made grow wider and wider until finally they 
reach your ear, just as the little ripples of 
water finally reached the shore. If you have 
ever watched a man chopping wood some dis- 
tance away, you will remember that while you 
instantly saw the stroke of the axe, it was sev- 
eral seconds before the Air Fairies came 
bringing the sound. When the disturbance 
of the air occurs out of doors, the circles widen 
in every direction. When it occurs in the 
house, the sound waves are kept within the 


102 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


walls of the room ; and for this reason we hear 
them much more distinctly than when a 
similar sound is produced out of doors. Our 
great churches and halls and theaters are 
so built that they assist the Air Fairies in 
bringing the sounds to us in the quickest and 
clearest way; and when we can hear very 
plainly we say that the acoustics are good. 
So when father says that the acoustics of 
a building are good, you will know that the 
men who designed the building, planned to 
help the Air Fairies carry the little sound 
waves made by the speaker’s voice. 

Sometimes when you are near a wood, or 
among the mountains, you will hear your own 
voice repeating from a distance the words you 
have just spoken. Of course you know this is 
an echo, but occasionally the words are so 
clear and plain that you almost believe some 
one is teasing you. An echo seems a mysteri- 
ous thing, but the cause of it is very simple. 
When you speak, your voice sends ripples 
through the air, and wave follows wave until 
they strike against a tree, or wall, or rock. 
Then, like a ball thrown against a house, the 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


103 



Calling to the Echo Fairies, 


waves rebound, and soon come rippling back 
again. Sometimes a wire is so tightly drawn 
that when it is struck it vibrates, which means 
that it moves back and forth. It does this so 
rapidly, and the little ripples made by it in the 
air are so even and close together, that they 
bring us a most pleasing sound which we call 
music. We have invented wonderful instru- 
ments with which to create these vibrations, so 
that the Air Fairies can bring us these sweet 
tones. We have the piano, the violin, the harp, 


104 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


the bell, and many other instruments, all of 
which set the Air Fairies dancing. One of the 
first instruments which men created for the use 
of the Air Fairies was called the aeolian harp. 
This was simply a box across which were 
tightly drawn strings. When set where the 
wind could blow through it, it produced soft 
musical sounds. Perhaps some day you can 
coax big brother to make one of these fairy 
instruments for you. Were it not for the Air 
Fairies, we should miss much of the joy of 
life, for we could not hear each other speak, 
and should be unable to use our voices, one of 
the greatest of the Good King’s gifts. 

Sometimes the Air Fairies, instead of bring- 
ing us pleasing sounds, bring a dreadful 
crash, such as the sharp report which follows 
a fiash of lightning. Have you ever wondered 
what makes the thunder ? Many people believe 
that it is the lightning itself which causes the 
terrible noise. That is not true, for lightning 
goes from cloud to cloud quite silently. The 
real reason for the sharp report is this : It is 
one of Queen Nature’s laws that there shall 
never be in or around the earth a place in 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


105 


which there is absolutely nothing. Such a 
place we call a vacuum, and there is a 
proverb which tells us that ‘‘Nature abhors 
a vacuum.’’ The word “abhors” means dis- 
likes. So when you hear some one use this 
expression, you will know that it is just an- 
other way of saying that Queen Nature dis- 
likes a place with nothing in it. She dis- 
likes it so very much that she hastens to fill 
such a spot as quickly as possible. Now, when 
the flash of lightning jumps from one cloud 
to another, it goes so quickly that it tears a 
hole right through the air, leaving this thing 
which Nature abhors— a vacuum. Then the 
Air Fairies, obeying Queen Nature’s law, rush 
so quickly to fill up this empty space that they 
crash together, making the terrific noise which 
we hear. The sound thus made echoes back 
and forth from cloud to cloud until it has 
rumbled away into silence. 

The Air Fairies, although so dainty, are 
really very strong and capable of supporting 
great weights. Were it not for the Nitrogen 
Fairies the little birds could not fly through 
the air. In flying a bird supports himself by 


106 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 



TJie Air Fairies assist Princess Flora in scattering fhe precious 
seeds. 


pushing his wings against the air, just as a 
swimmer pushes his hands and feet against the 
water to keep himself afloat. The Air Fai- 
ries also carry from place to place the Mist 
Fairies who have gone into the sky in the 
shape of clouds. If this were not so, the 
thirsty animals and plants would die for want 
of water, and the rivers and lakes would dry 
up. The Air Fairies also assist the Princess 
Flora in scattering the precious seeds of the 
flowers. When a little blossom tosses out its 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


107 


tiny seeds, the Air Fairies bear some of them 
up and away, sometimes for many miles, 
where they take root and grow. The next sum- 
mer we wonder how these strange plants came 
to grow in this spot where there was never 
one like them before. 

The Sunbeam Princesses in their efforts to 
warm our earth find willing little helpers in 
the Air Fairies. When the Princesses bring 
heat to our earth, the Air Fairies prevent 
much of it from escaping, just as the downy 
blanket on your bed keeps in the heat from 
your body. Otherwise, every night, even in 
smnmer, as soon as the Sunbeam Princesses 
are gone, the wicked Frost King would come 
stealing in and destroy all the vegetables and 
fruits. 

These little Fairies are such willing workers 
that we are constantly seeking their aid. We 
erect windmills, or huge fans, high up in the 
air which the Air Fairies turn for us, and in 
so doing pump water from the well, or grind 
into flour the golden corn and wheat. We 
also have learned that the Air Fairies can be 
crowded together into a small space, just as 


108 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


you would crush together the feathers in a 
pillow. We call this compressing them; 
and when they are released they come pour- 
ing out in great force. So we have manufac- 
tured many kinds of machines which are 
operated by what we call compressed air, 
but what is really the imprisoned Air Fairies. 

It is one of Queen Nature’s laws, as you 
have learned, that when gases become warm 
they become lighter, and if possible rise from 
the surface of the earth as far as King 
Gravity will let them go. Solid things cannot 
do this, unless it is possible for them to melt. 
Liquid things can do it only by turning into 
vapor; and many of them change themselves 
thus. So when the Air Fairies near the sur- 
face of the earth become heated they rise, and 
the colder Fairies at the sides and above rush 
in quickly to prevent a vacuum from forming. 
If you will look across the top of a very hot 
stove, perhaps you can see a queer little ripple 
in the air. This is caused by the Air Fairies 
who have become too warm and are going up 
where it is cooler, in obedience to Queen 
Nature’s law. You can now understand why 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


109 


the air at the top of a room is much warmer 
than that near the floor. 

When the warm Fairies rise and the cool 
ones come down quietly and slowly, we have a 
gentle little breeze like the one that kissed 
your cheek on the warm spring morning. But 
when the Fairies move more quickly and with 
great force, there occurs a violent wind like 
the one that sent your hat rolling wildly down 
the street. Once in a while the warm Fairies 
go straight up and the cold ones come rushing 
in from the sides in a circular motion. Then 



The Air Fairies fanned her cheeTc with a gentle hreeze. 


no QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

there is created a very dangerous storm called 
a cyclone or tornado. Have you ever noticed 
a little whirlwind twirling the leaves round 
and round ? Just the same thing is happening 
there that happens in the terrible tornados 
which wreck houses and tear up great trees as 
easily as you would pull a weed. When a tor- 
nado or cyclone occurs on the ocean, it draws 
up great quantities of water in what is called 
a waterspout. If ships are so unfortunate as 
to cross its path, they rarely escape being 
wrecked. 

Although, as you see, the Air Fairies are 
capable of doing an immense amount of dam- 
age, they are such wonderful little workers 
that we can forgive them an occasional prank. 
We owe our lives and much of our pleasure to 
them, for they not only furnish us with the 
air we breathe, but they carry the Mist Fairies 
all over the world to water the thirsty animals 
and plants. They make it possible for the little 
birds to fly and for our wonderful airships to 
sail through the air like boats upon the ocean. 
They aid in warming the earth by keeping 
here the heat which the Sunbeam Princesses 


THE AIR FAIRIES 


111 


bring. They fan us willd a gentle breeze on a 
warm summer day. They bring to us the beau- 
tiful sounds we love to hear, and the sweet per- 
fumes we love to breathe. So when we feel 
their soft touch, we must remember how neces- 
sary they are and be grateful to Queen Nature 
for placing this multitude of Air Fairies 
around our world. 

Questions suggested by the story : 

1. How deep is the air? 

2. Of what is the air composed? 

3. What part of the air keeps us alive? 

4. How long can we live without air ? 

5. What happens to fire if it cannot have air? 

6. What causes a sound? 

7. What is the meaning of the word ^^acoustics” ? 

8. What makes an echo? 

9. What is a vacuum? 

10. What causes thunder? 

11. How does a bird fly? 

12. How does the air help to keep the earth warm? 

13. How do we make the air work for us? 

14. What causes the wind ? 

15. What is a whirlwind? A cyclone? A watersprout? 


THE GREAT MAGICIAN 

I wonder if you remember the first time 
your father and mother took you to the theater 
to see a man perform wonderful tricks with 
cards and ribbons and hats. Do you remem- 
ber how he came on the stage, rolled up his 
sleeves and with his magic stick did the most 
unbelievable things? How breathlessly you 
watched every move to see if you could under- 
stand just how the tricks were done ! But you 
never could do so, and though afterward you 
tried over and over again to mystify some of 
your playmates, you never could perform a 
single trick. 

Having seen all the strange things which 
this man did, can you believe that there is in 
the world a real Magician, who is a thousand 
times as great, and whose tricks are far more 
wonderful than any of which a hmnan ma- 
gician has ever dreamed? Nevertheless this 
is true, and this great Magician uses for his 
112 


THE GREAT MAGICIAN 113 

stage the whole world, and for his objects 
everything on the earth and in the sky. Men 
have spent their lives trying to understand 
how he performs his tricks, but they are no 
wiser. They have, however, learned to make 
things which he will use, and in so doing give 
us much pleasure. 

The Magician was sent by the Good King to 
live in the world when it was new. This was 
before Queen Nature and the Princesses had 
beautified the earth, and even before King 
Gravity had come to make his home in it. The 
Magician is one of the Fairy Forces and a 
cousin of the Fire Prince, whom he very much 
resembles. His home is really everywhere in 
the world, but he likes best to hide in the 
earth, or in metals, or in the air, where he is 
usually invisible. Once in a while, however, 
we catch a glimpse of his brilliant coat, and 
the sight is almost blinding. On a stormy day 
he may be seen, darting from cloud to cloud, 
or from cloud to earth, in a long brilliant 
streak. We sometimes call him Lightning, but 
his real name is Electricity. He is the most 
powerful, as well as the most wonderful, of 


114 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

all the Fairy Forces. But he has a very un- 
pleasant disposition, and when crossed his 
anger is terrible to see. 

For ages and ages people knew only that 
this great Magician existed, and they feared 
him, for they had seen his cruelty and power. 
They had seen the sky grow black as night 
with great angry clouds, from which leaped 
streaks of fire. Amid a downpour of rain the 
Magician, with a blinding fiash, would splinter 
a strong tree as easily as you would break a 
match. Or the roofs of houses would burst 
into fiames at the touch of his magic wand. 
So people feared him and did not try to under- 
stand his power for many years. 

Then one day, not so long ago, a man who 
was wiser than the rest believed that he could 
conquer the Magician. And if he could not 
learn how the tricks were done, he believed 
that he could compel the Magician to perform 
them for him. This man’s name was Ben- 
jamin Franklin. One day when the rain was 
falling and the lightning was darting from 
cloud to cloud, in spite of the laughter of his 
friends, who thought him a bit foolish, he took 


THE GREAT MAGICIAN 


115 


The Great Magician, 



a kite wMck lie had made and ran up and 
down the fields until it sailed aloft in the sky. 
This was just an ordinary kite such as you 
use when you race up and down the street, ex- 
cept that to the end of the long cord which 
held it there was tied a metal key. When the 
kite had gone up and up until it was a mere 
speck in the sky, the Magician saw it. He also 
saw the key, and because he is very fond of 
metals he came racing down the cord. Frank- 
lin was as happy as you would have been had 




116 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


you discovered how the stage magician was 
able to make a rabbit and a bunch of ribbon 
come out of a hat. For you see, he suspected 
that he had conquered the Magician and could 
make of him a willing servant. Since that 
time wise men have spent years in studying 
the nature and habits of the Magician, and in- 
venting many curious instruments for his use. 

You will remember reading the story of 
Aladdin and the wonderful lamp which he 
rubbed when he wished to smnmon the genie. 
We have learned that it is possible for us to 
summon the Magician in a similar way. Have 
you ever stroked the furry back of pussy on 
a cold winter night, and felt a queer tingling 
in your finger tips? How the hair crackled 
and stood on end, and how pussy tried to get 
away from the unpleasant feeling! Or did 
you ever slide swiftly over a heavy carpet and 
then touch somebody’s face, or a piece of 
metal, and see and feel the tiny spark which 
flew from the tip of your finger? Well, this 
tiny spark is just as much the great Magician 
as the terrible bolt of lightning which dazzles 
us and shatters the great oak during the sum- 


THE GREAT MAGICIAN 


117 


mer rainstorm. There are other ways of sum- 
moning the great Magician, and as you grow 
older it will be very interesting for you to 
learn just how this can be done. 

There are certain things in the world for 
which the Magician has a great fondness, and 
he will go to them whenever he has the oppor- 
tunity to do so, just as he came down the cord 
to the little key. The objects which he likes 
best are the earth, metals, wood, water and 
our own bodies. He will not remain in them 
long, however, but races out again as quickly 
as possible. For this reason we call these 
things good conductors, because they con- 
duct him in at one door and out at the other 
in the shortest possible time. Other things, 
such as rubber, silk, porcelain, and glass, are 
called non-conductors, because it is difficult 
for him to pass through them. If we use these 
non-conductors when we handle the Magician, 
he cannot harm us. 

When men learned the likes and dislikes of 
the Magician and how to handle him, they com- 
menced to make instruments which they com- 
pelled him to operate. They discovered that 


118 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 

he could be made to go from one place to 
another over a thin copper wire ; and there is 
nothing in the world which can travel quite 
so fast as the Magician. It takes him only a 
few seconds to go clear around the earth, a 
distance of about twenty-five thousand miles. 
Another wise man discovered that the Magi- 
cian could be made to carry a message over 
the wire ; and then a little instrument was in- 
vented which would deliver the message to 
him at one end and receive it from him at 
the other. He will even carry messages under 
the ocean through wires twisted into great 
cables, which we have laid on the ocean bed 
from shore to shore. In this way we are able 
to telephone and telegraph messages to our 
friends all over the world. Then we learned 
that the Magician would carry messages with- 
out the aid of wires ; and so we have the won- 
derful wireless stations which send our words 
across the country and over the ocean through 
the sky. 

We have placed in our houses many of these 
little copper wires over which the Magician 
likes to travel. When we open the tiny little 


THE GREAT MAGICIAN 


119 


door in the electric lamp or stove by pushing 
the button, he enters and lights our homes and 
makes our toast. Or if we open the door in 
the telephone by raising the receiver, he brings 
us the voices of our friends. The Magician is 
so tremendously strong that we must be very 
careful not to touch him, for he loves to run 
through our bodies, just as he loves to run 
through the copper wire. If he is very strong 
when he does this we shall be dreadfully 
burned; for, as you will remember, he is a 
cousin of the Fire Prince. To avoid being in- 
jured we wind the wires through which he 
travels with rubber or silk, or run them 
through glass knobs. When we handle these 
wires we wear rubber gloves through which 
he cannot pass. 

And so we have conquered the great Magi- 
cian, and forced him to share with us his won- 
derful power. With the aid of various 
machines and instruments he lights our houses 
and the streets of our cities, and performs for 
us many difficult and useful tasks. He runs 
along the wire above the street car track, and 
when the trolley touches this wire he runs 


120 QUEEN NATURE’S FAIRY HELPERS 


down it, just as he ran down the kite string, 
and sends the cars whizzing on their way. He 
carries our messages all over the world, and he 
operates countless machines. He brings us 
comfort and many pleasures, and though we 
do not know and may never learn the secrets 
of this wonderful Magician, we are glad that 
he is willing to use our world for his stage, and 
the material which we furnish for the per- 
formance of his tricks. 

Questions suggested by the story: 

1. What is lightning? 

2. What experiment did Franklin make? 

3. What did he learn from the experiment? 

4. Do we know very much about electricity? 

5. How can we produce one kind of electricity? 

6. WTiat is a '^conductor”? 

7. Name three or four good conductors. 

8. Why should we be very careful about using electricity ? 

9. WTiat is a ^^non-conductor” ? 

10. Name three or four non-conductors. 

11. Tell some of the things that electricity does for us. 


FAIRY STORIES 

MY CHILDREN LOVE BEST OF ALL 


Edited by EDGAR DUBS SHIMER, Ph. A. Lt. D. 
District Superintendent, New York City 



The uniqueness of this book lies in the fact that the 
stories are representative of the best fairy tales of all 
nations. They are delightfully written with charming 
illustrations by Lucy Fitch Perkins. It is a book par- 
ents will want for the children’s home reading, libraries 
will find in demand and teachers will enjoy using for 
supplementary work. 

There are 33 tales, all as interest-rousing and stim- 
ulating to the imagination as the few listed below. 
Wang and His Star {From the Chinese) 

The Origin of the Robin {From the American Indian) 
A King Finds a Beautiful Hair {From the Egyptian) 
How Cassum Became King {From the Persian) 

The Flying Trunk {From the Turkish) 

Carlos and the Magic Horse {From the Spanish) 

Ten at One Stroke {From the East Indian) 

Gentle Olga and Spiteful Vera {From the Russian) 
Five Wonderful Eggs {From the French) 

The Fairy Huntsmen {From the Scotch) 

Write for a description of the other books in “My 
Children’s Best of AH’’ series. 

Price $1.50 

LLOYD ADAMS NOBLE, PubUsher 

Poems My Children Love Best of All $1.50 

Mother Goose Rhymes My Children Love Best of All 1.50 

Bible Stories My Children Love Best of All 1.50 

31 West 15lh Street, New York City 





TRADE MARK REGISTERED 


Your children will some day look back and think of 
the things which really contributed to their early education. 
Will these remembrances include any of the books which 
you are buying for them now when they are young? 


Mother Goose Songs My Children Love (Adams) Price 50c. 

Mother Goose Pictures My Children Love to Cut Out 

and Assemble 50c. 

My Children’s Scrap Book (Adams) “ 50c. 

Animals My Children Love to Cut Out and Study “ 50c. 

Mother Goose Rhymes My Children Love (Adams) .... “ 50c. 

Shadow Pictures My Children Love to Make (Adams) ” 50c. 
My Children’s Robert Louis Stevenson Paint Book ... " 50c. 

My Children’s Eugene Field Paint Book (Adams) .... “ 50c. 

Andersen’s Fairy Pictures My Children Love to Color “ 50c. 

My Children’s Alice in Wonderland Paint Book ** 50c. 

My Children’s Mother (}oose Paint Book ** 50c. 

Mother Goose Pictures My Children Love to Color 

and Frame “ 50c. 

Pictures of the Months My Children Love to Color... “ 50c. 

Mottoes My Children Love to Color and Frame ** 50c. 

My Children’s Line and Circle Book “ $1.00 

Useful Things My Children Love to Embroider “ 1.00 

Book Plates My Younger Children Love Best of All 

3 Books each containing 36 Book Plates, Per Book. . ** 50c. 

Book Plates My Older Children Love Best of All 

3 Books each containing 36 Book Plates, Per Book.. “ 50c. 

What My Children Love to Eat (Colson) ** 50c. 

My Children’s Rocking Alphabet Book “ $1.00 

My Children’s Word Builder “ 75c. 

Piano Pieces My Children Love— 36 Masterpieces “ $1.25 

Fairy Stories My Children Love Best of All (Shimer) “ 1.50 

Poems My Children Love Best of All (Johnson) “ 1.50 

Mother Goose Rhymes My Children Love Best of All. “ 1.50 
Bible Stories My Children Love Best of All, (Johnson) “ 1.50 
How 200 Children Live and Learn (Reeder) 1.50 

LLOYD ADAMS NOBLE, Publisher 

Summers Thought and Action Readers 

31 West 1 5th Street New York City 










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